Trail of Tears State Park, Missouri
Trailhead Elevation: 610 ft.
Low Point: 348 ft.
High Point: 623 ft.
Distance: 6.76 mi. (my Forerunner 230)
Elevation Gain: 941 ft. (my GPS)
Start Time: 7:00am
End Time: 8:20am
Trip Report:
I thank the Hiking Project site/app for clueing me in to this wonderful state park and set of trails. I was in Jackson, MO looking for a good morning run and hitting the streets didn't entice me. I spent a little time doing some searching and luckily stumbled upon the Pee-Wah trail loops at Trail of Tears State Park. With 7+ miles of trails available this was an instant hit.
I wanted to get in 7 miles or so today to fit in with my ultra-run training program. I'm in the midst of preparing for the Run Rabbit Run 50 in September and any trail miles, especially with hills, are like striking gold for me. I resolved to hit a trailhead parking lot in the middle of the two loops and then target both loops for my run. I was also on a slight time crunch with only about 90 minutes total to work with so I needed to play my options wisely.
Plenty of good single track here |
Note the leaf-filled downhill track |
I made my into the southwest portion of the eastern loop and took that to the junction with the west loop. I then started into it in clockwise fashion. The early parts of my run were up on ridgelines. The western portion of the west loop heads down into a ravine. When I neared the northwest end of the western loop and began traversing east I ran into a river crossing. Only this was no small stream. It appeared the river was flooded and ahead of me was at least 100 yards of standing water. I could see blazes on two trees out in the midst of the muck. It was a quick decision for me to make a turnaround here to retrace my steps. Who knows what kind of swampy muck was under the water and whether my shoes would have even survived.
Flooded section |
Who you want to cross here? |
The east loop also dropped into a ravine but thankfully the stream crossings down there were mostly dried up. Just before the trail began its climb up to the bluffs along the river I thought I had hit another impassable flooded. But I found the trail skirted its side for a short bit and then headed for higher ground.
Easy stream crossing on east loop |
Flooded area on east loop, trail skirts it |
On the bluffs on the east loop |
On the bluffs on the east loop |
Note the beautiful trail on the right side running the bluff |
From the overlook on the east loop |
From the overlook on the east loop |
Along today's run the wildlife spotting was limited to a handful of box turtles and a plethora of squirrels. I didn't see any big game as I was hoping. The turtles I grabbed a few photos of but they were mostly scared of me and quickly shut up shop.
This turtle didn't want to come out and play |
I was intrigued to find signage and other info suggesting there to be backpacking in this state park. There is apparently a good camp area on a connector trail in the middle of the west loop. This would be something to check out next time with more time.
Track:
I have a track and waypoints from the hike all contained in a KML file that you are welcome to download and use (at your own risk).
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