Took a few days and went down to do some hiking in Shawnee last week.
Picked a great time of year to do it. Middle of December finds lots
of the campgrounds closed, but also means you have the trails almost
to yourself. We bring most of our food stuff with us, but if you're
the kind who likes to restaurant it, good luck. You have limited
choices in the forest area at this time of year, and in the summer it probably takes forever to get through the lines and wait.
Just needing some quiet nature time, this place provides it. It is
not mountainous, but the trails provide plenty of 2-300 feet up and
then down, over and over again. Of the hikes we took, Garden of the
Gods was probably the favorite. There is a short ~1 mile loop at the center and top of the area that has a paved walkway going around it
from the parking lot. I think they claim it is wheel chair
accessible, but there were some steps. The views from there were spectacular, and we saved it for the end of the day.
First, we did a ~7 mile hike around what they call the wilderness
area. The rock outcroppings, streams, and big trees were beautiful.
Was able to sneak up on some deer, flocks of turkeys, several big owls
that let you walk right up to them, and lots of other wildlife. As a bonus, December means few bugs! Another thing we noticed was an
abundance of nuts on the forest floor. No wonder there are so many
deer down here. There was food everywhere.
The only thing that bothered me the whole trip was seeing some of the
most beautiful and old trees all carved up with initials and the
usual, "I love Deb" knifed into them.
I just think you have to be a
real selfish idiot to do that. Eventually it will kill them.
Anyway, nice place to get to, and will have to go try some of the
other areas some day.
sticks
sticks wrote:
Took a few days and went down to do some hiking in Shawnee last week.
Picked a great time of year to do it. Middle of December finds lots
of the campgrounds closed, but also means you have the trails almost
to yourself. We bring most of our food stuff with us, but if you're
the kind who likes to restaurant it, good luck. You have limited
choices in the forest area at this time of year, and in the summer it
probably takes forever to get through the lines and wait.
Just needing some quiet nature time, this place provides it. It is
not mountainous, but the trails provide plenty of 2-300 feet up and
then down, over and over again. Of the hikes we took, Garden of the
Gods was probably the favorite. There is a short ~1 mile loop at the
center and top of the area that has a paved walkway going around it
from the parking lot. I think they claim it is wheel chair
accessible, but there were some steps. The views from there were
spectacular, and we saved it for the end of the day.
First, we did a ~7 mile hike around what they call the wilderness
area. The rock outcroppings, streams, and big trees were beautiful.
Was able to sneak up on some deer, flocks of turkeys, several big owls
that let you walk right up to them, and lots of other wildlife. As a
bonus, December means few bugs! Another thing we noticed was an
abundance of nuts on the forest floor. No wonder there are so many
deer down here. There was food everywhere.
The only thing that bothered me the whole trip was seeing some of the
most beautiful and old trees all carved up with initials and the
usual, "I love Deb" knifed into them.
Yeah, that Deb really gets around.
I just think you have to be a real selfish idiot to do that.
Eventually it will kill them.
Anyway, nice place to get to, and will have to go try some of the
other areas some day.
sticks
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