December provides some of the best opportunities to get out and hike in Missouri. I got a chance to take advantage of some of this fine weather on Christmas eve. It was a little cool, but if you have the right gear, and dress in layers, winter can be one of the best times of the year to get out and hit the trail.
I hiked a modified version of the South loop trail (the Big Sugar Creek trail cuts right through it, and provides a nice half point). The trails at Cuiver River SP see a lot of equestrian use, so there were parts a of the trail that were a little muddy and chopped up. However, due to the fact that the ground was frozen, I was able to hike right over most of this. I was anticipating seeing some wildlife, on this hike I saw quite a few active woodpeckers and tufted titmouse birds. Other than that, it was fairly calm on the wildlife side. This wildlife area is incredibly peaceful. The hike had some hills to negotiate. I hiked this trail probably about 4 years ago or so, so it was great to get back out and check it out again. You can backpack camp on this trail (which I have done a couple of times). If you are just getting starting in backpack camping, this would be a great starter trail, due to the fact that you are fairly close to civilization and can get back to the trail head quickly.
There are a few pictures in the video of the old house (all that remains is the foundation ,and old lake, and a bunch of debris in the old basement. I am thinking this house got destroyed probably in the 50's (based on the looks of the old refrigerator and toys that were in the debris). It is located where the red blaze meets the blue blaze very close to Big Sugar Creek. You cannot see it from the trail, so if you want to check it out, you need to hike in through some sticker bushes and other botanical riff-raff to find it.
I look forward to coming back and hiking deeper into this forest. I have spent the night in this area with backpacks, and look forward to maybe doing an overnight in the spring.
These are quite a slice of americana. I found them on Youtube and just had to share. Not only to you get a chance to see how the parks were in the early 60's....but you get a chance to see how people were as well. I found these to be really interesting, and quite funny at times. In one of these films, they were suggesting to use the park cabins as part of a honeymoon package. I can go with that, no problem, but the way it was portrayed had me rolling on the floor- be looking for it!
In part 3, a lot of the springs and parks that they are referencing are now a part of the National Park Service along the Current River.
There is a part of part 4 where you can see the Buzzards Roost Outlook at Mark Twain State Park....before the lake (with a view of just the Salt River)
I just had to share these. Big fan of Missouri State Parks!
I normally post stories about hiking, however, I occasionally like to add biking to this site as well. It was so hot that day, I am glad to have got on all 12.5 miles. This is such a nice bike trail, what a real asset we have in Missouri with this trail. It has been quite a while since I had gotten up on my bike- It felt good to get some miles in. I also wanted to try my GoPro camera out with the bike mount...check out the video, I really like how it turned out!
The video says it all about this hike. This park is located about 1/2 way between Ft. Smith and Fayetville, Arkansas. The day had to be almost the perfect hiking conditions. This trail is a moderate trail (a lot of inclines) but is only 3 miles in length, so a person could do the entire thing in a couple of hours. This video does not due justice to the grandness of the vistas.
This is the film from the January 31st hike on the most northern part of the Ozark Trail in Crawford County. I was attempting to start on mile 1, but for some reason overshot the trail head. Parked at the winter campground and followed the trail past the cool cliffs and cave formations. The top of the summit was more like an old logging road, and if you hike in even further, you can see some of the remains of the old Iron Ore pit. A really nice hike- weather got up to almost 50 degrees- and then we had a major snow storm two days later. It felt so good to get out on the trail. Hiked 5.9 miles total
This was filmed on Bell Mountain Wilderness area the first week of January 2011. This hike is one of the most beautiful in Missouri. Winter time is some of the best time to get out and hike on the Ozark Trail (it has not been the best to kayak this winter). I like to do this to keep in shape for when it will be time to hit the water with the kayaks. Hiking is a great way to break up the winter and get outdoors.
Did a total of about 6 miles or so....this is one of the most incredible hikes in Missouri. I know I saw and heard a couple of wild boards in the area (evidentally this area has a real problem with wild hogs). Cannot wait to get back and do a possible overnight here
