Palo Duro Canyon State Park

Where: Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Texas
Trail: Lighthouse Trail
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
Distance: 5.75 miles round trip
Adventure Rating: 3 Stars
Pets: Allowed on leash

The pictures of Palo Duro Canyon on the state park's website show majestic rock formations, which was what drew me to the park in the first place. On the drive from Amarillo, my friends and I kept wondering where the rock formations were because the land was flat as far as the eye could see. It was like driving through Oklahoma--flat nothing. It wasn't long before we soon realized that the reason we couldn't yet see it was that it was a CANYON.

We paid the $5 per person fee in the gift shop and then proceeded to the parking lot at the trail-head for the Lighthouse Trail. Palo Duro is dog-friendly and we were able to bring our little dogs with us. The trail is 5.75 miles round trip, hiking out to the lighthouse and back to the parking lot. The majority of the hike is pretty easy. The trail is hard-packed red dirt and easy to trek.

We started the hike in the afternoon (not taking into account that the sun sets earlier in the winter) and ended up hiking back to our cars in the dark. When we started, it was sunny and 60, but by the time we were done it was dark and 50. We didn't bring our jackets with us, so we were a bit chilly.

As we were hiking up the last bit (which was really climbing) we ran into a man and his son. The man urged us not to continue on, but to turn back because it would be dark in an hour. When we asked how far it was to the end, he said less than a quarter mile. So we said we wanted to continue. He then proceeded to tell us that a lot of people had died at the park this year... because of the heat. The guy meant well, but the info he gave us was completely irrelevant. We did hike to the end and saw the lighthouse formation (and we didn't die even though the last thirty minutes of the hike were in the dark).

Ludington State Park

Where: Ludington State Park
Trail: Lost Lake Trail, Island Trail, and Ridge Trail
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
Distance: 1.5 miles, 4 miles (both)
Adventure Rating: 2 Stars
Pet: Allowed on leash

Bay City State Recreation Area

Where: Bay City State Recreation Area, Michigan
Trail: Lagoon Trail
Difficulty: Easy
Distance: less than 1 mile loop
Adventure Rating: 1 Star
Pets: Allowed on leash

If you're looking to go for a walk, it's a good place to do it. If you actually want to hike, it's pretty lame. The trail isn't very long and it's pretty uninteresting.

Ludington State Park

Where: Ludington State Park
Trail: Lost Lake Trail, Island Trail, and Ridge Trail
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
Distance: 1.5 miles, 4 miles (both)
Adventure Rating: 2 Stars
Pet: Allowed on leash

We started at the parking lot near the beach and the boat launch. We started on the Island Trail, which involves boardwalks that span across the Lost Lake onto several tiny islands. The Lost Lake is peaceful and some day I'm going to go back without my dogs and kayak the lake.

We hiked the entire Lost Lake Trail until it ended at the Ridge Trail. Most of the Ridge Trail is on top of sand dunes which makes the trek a little more difficult. But from up there we saw a raccoon in a tree as well as a group of deer down in one of the valleys. We watched a couple of fawns hopping around playing for about ten minutes.

A flight of wooden stairs brought us down from the Ridge Trail and connected us to the Lost Lake Trail, which took us back to the parking lot. Of the three trails, the Island Trail is the most visually interesting. The Lost Lake trail is the easiest and the Ridge Trail is the more strenuous.

Monument Hill & Kreische Brewery

Where: Monument Hill & Kreische Brewery State Historic Sites
Trail: all trails
Difficulty: Easy
Distance: less than 1 mile loop
Adventure Rating: 1 Star
Pets: Allowed on leash


We started in the parking lot and headed for the Kreische Woods Nature Loop, crossing a tiny bridge over a tiny creek. At the trail kiosk, we switched over to the Schulenburg Ferry Trail. We took that to the upper bridge and crossed over to the Brewery Lane Trail, which took us to the brewery ruins. After that, we took the Kreische Stairway Trail. This was pretty cool because it had stone stairs to climb. We passed a barn and a smoke house as we took the Scenic and Historic Trail to the Scenic Overlook. After that, we took the trail back around to the parking lot. This was a great hike for kids--it wasn't too strenuous and it was visually interesting with bridges, rocks, stones, stairs, etc.

Taughannock Falls State Park

Where: Taughannock Falls State Park, New York
Trail: Gorge Trail
Difficulty: Easy
Distance: 1.5 miles round trip
Adventure Rating: 1 Star
Pets: Allowed on leash

The trail is wide and well-groomed. Because of the short distance to the falls, there were a lot of tourists. The water was low and we ended up walking in the creek-bed--hopping rocks and wading in the water until we got closer to the falls, which made the "hike" a lot more fun than if we'd just stayed on the trail.

Generally, I am all about getting as close to the waterfalls as possible [which is probably why I almost fell off a waterfall once], but in this case, I heeded the warnings and stayed on the right side of the barrier. Rocks are constantly breaking and falling into the pool at the base of the waterfall (sometimes injuring or even killing tourists who decide to get too close). This is one place that I would highly recommend following the rules on.

Robert H Treman State Park

Where: Robert H Treman State Park, New York
Trail: Gorge Trail and Rim Trail
Difficulty: Moderate to Strenuous
Distance: 6 miles
Adventure Rating: 4 stars
Pets: Not allowed on Gorge Trail

The hike begins in the forest and there are several places with steep hills. Throughout the hike, there were many times that we had to take breaks due to the steep steps--especially on the Cliff Staircase. There were many opportunities to get close to Enfield Creek and the many small falls. There were also tight squeezes and some rock scrambling.

Lucifer Falls

Enfield Falls

Watkins Glen State Park

Where: Watkins Glen State Park, New York
Trail: Gorge Trail and South Rim Trail
Difficulty: Moderate
Distance: approximately 2.5 miles total
Adventure Rating: 2 stars
Pets: Not allowed on the Gorge Trail

We hiked the Gorge Trail to the Mile Point Bridge and then took that to the South Rim Trail. For such a small park, it sure has a lot to look at, making it well worth the trip. The Gorge Trail has hundreds of stone steps, so sturdy shoes are needed. In addition, the steps and walkways are off wet and slippery due to the waterfall spray, so take caution.

Brazos Bend State Park

Where: Brazos Bend State Park, Texas
Trail: Red Buckeye and White Oak Trails
Difficulty: Easy
Distance: 1.5 mile loop and 1.8 mile loop
Adventure Rating: 1 Star
Pets: Allowed on leash

Being that it was December, the park was brown and not very scenic. Still, it was a nice hike and beautiful weather to enjoy it.

Sheldon Lake State Park

Where: Sheldon Lake State Park, Texas 
Trail: Pond Loop, Bent Pine, Swamp Rabbit, Kinglet, Armadillo Trails
Difficulty: Easy
Distance:1.5 miles
Adventure Rating: 1 Star
Pets: Allowed on leash

Since there were few trails, we hiked them all. The Pond Loop trail allows you to observe each pond--which we did after seeing the beware of alligators sign. We finally saw an alligator at the second to last pond. It was laying in a tree, which I still find weird. Other than the alligator, the park wasn't all that exciting. Perhaps the canoe trails would've been more interesting.

Lake Mineral Wells State Park

Where: Lake Mineral Wells State Park, Texas
Trail: Primitive Campground Access Trail
Difficulty: Moderate (first 1/2 mile has steep grades)
Distance: 2.5 miles, one way
Adventure Rating: 2 Stars
Pets: Allowed on leash

Lake Mineral Wells is just west of Dallas/Ft Worth. The park has one interesting hiking trail. The other trails are multipurpose. It was on this trip that I learned a valuable hiking lesson. If a trail allows horses, it's probably not going to be that interesting. We hiked a bit on one of the multipurpose trails before switching over to the primitive trail.


 




















The second thing I learned was that it's a good idea to bring along a change of clothes so that you don't have to ride home (4.5 hours back to Houston) in hot, sweaty clothes. And they were hot and sweaty since the temperature reached into the 80s that day. In the sun, that was pretty hot. Which leads to the third thing I learned, and that is 80 degrees is a little too hot for hiking for Toby (my dog).

Enchanted Rock State Natural Area

Where: Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, Texas
Trail: Summit Trail?
Difficulty: Moderate
Distance: 1/2 mile, one way
Adventure Rating: 2 Stars
Pets: Allowed on leash

The trail markers weren't easy to follow, so I'm not 100% sure that we stayed on a trail or how much distance we covered exactly. The enchanted rock is a huge dome rock and you can just climb all over it, which is what we did.