4-C Hiking Trail

Good trail. Easy to follow.
By JamesJ on 1/14/2011
Rating: Difficulty: Solitude:
Distance: 30.00 Miles Duration: N/A

Entered the trail at 7:40am at the Creek Camp entrance on 511. There were time where I thought the scale on the trail map was really off. The prescribed burn scars were still on many of the pines and through the hike I was trying to guess when it occured. The picture on here said it was in 2007 and I guessed between 2-3 years from the amount of leaf litter and shrub brush that had grown. The pine savannas were really pretty with their clean switch grass understories. I reached the Neches Overlook at 11:20. I stopped to photograph a beaver at one of the ponds for about 15 minutes so give or take on that. The last 2 miles of the climb on the bluff had me mouth breathing but nothing strenuous. The rest of the trail is flat. The view from the overlook was anticlimatic. They obviously cleared some of the adjacent trees but, it is what it is. A view of the forest. 511-3* supposedly goes from the gravel 511 to the overlook. But you sure as hell aren't going to make it on a 2 wheel drive much less a car. The recent rain in the area had made a serious mud hole wash out of the clay road down the utility right of way. 4x4 and high wheel clearance are a minimum. I could have traversed it in my crossover but there were parts I wasn't willing to take a chance of getting stuck so far into the woods. I came to hike anyways. After an apple and muffin lunch I decided to walk back to my car via the road to save time. Being winter, the sun starts setting at 4:00pm and that would roughly be the time I'd make it back to my car if I returned on the trail. I hiked the utility line to what I thought was an extension of 511. But the line came to a dead end at a gate that didnt have a road or any sign of traffic on it for 10 years, no joke. What was there was a week old or less bulldozer path that marked the property boundary against someone elses fenced land. Well the bulldozer had to have come in somewhere so I followed it. It came out next to a gated oilpad road not marked on the map. I followed it, which DID eventually merge into 511. The map was really vague but atleast it was correct. Reached my car at 2:20pm. Nearly half the time it took to go from the car to the overlook on the trail. I was walking a little faster and on straight flat ground. Animal sightings: Fenches, Warblers, CROWS, 1 beaver, 1 buck, 3 does, Bald eagle being harassed by crows, armadillo. 1 skeleton of a coyote.

A decent but not exciting hike in the woods
By dsbrian on 3/9/2007
Rating: Difficulty: Solitude:
Distance: 40.00 Miles Duration: N/A
Hiked this trail out and back over the course of 3 days. A standard forest hike, nothing exciting. Lots of scouts on the trail (spring break)Would have been better if the end at Neches overlook had actually had a scenic view of the river.

Flat. Water questionable
By rmtjr on 3/15/2006
Rating: Difficulty: Solitude:
Distance: 37.00 Miles Duration: N/A
I hiked about 37 miles on the 4C trail on Mar 13-15, 2006. The trail: Well marked. No problem following it in daylight. The northern end is different from the southern end. The northern half has more elevation changes because of the overlook. It seems more open, especially with the almost mile walk along a power line right-of-way below the bluff. Both the north and south ends could be swampy in places when there is rain. Fortunately these places are well bridged. Trying to locate myself precisely based on the trail track on the maps and relating that to the ground was hit and miss for me. Water: There is no potable water on the trail! I thought that I would use my MIOXX purifier to take care of water needs along the trail, but with only a couple of exceptions, I was suspicious of even trying to purify the water that I found. It wasn’t the brown color in the water from the pine tree tannin. The problem was stagnation in this drought season. Mileage markers: I saw mileage markers 1-4 on Monday. I think there were relatively accurately placed. I didn’t see another marker until Tuesday when I was returning from Walnut Creek Camp. This was mile post 8. I think it was too far north. I passed it an hour south of Walnut Creek Camp. That would mean that I’d traveled two miles an hour. I seriously doubt that I did that. On Wednesday I saw mile marker 12 and it was only a couple of hours for me south of the northern trail head. I know it was out of place. That would have meant I’d traveled 7+ miles from the trailhead in about two hours and I only do that in my dreams. I saw the number 13 marker Wednesday night, but I’m not sure where that was. Note: Both Mickey Little’s book and the USFS’ brochure show a primitive camping site at Walnut Creek Camp. There is a shelter and a privy here. Mickey Little’s book shows a primitive camp site at Pond Camp. The USFS’ broacher reports a shelter at Pond Camp. There is no shelter or privy at Pond Camp! The privy at Walnut Creek Camp was in sad shape. Hunters had blasted holes in the commode itself and the privy area was not much better than a trash dump. The shelter was in good shape. There were 5-6 level tent sites around the shelter. Pond Camp was just an open area frequented by hunters with the usual amount of trash that they leave. The northern trailhead is primitive. There are no improvements. There is space to camp, but I recommend protecting your campsite by placing your vehicle between your tent and the natural path for vehicles to follow. A couple of good ol’ boys were screaming down the forest roads in their pickup trucks as I was thinking about setting up camp at the northern trail head. I decided that with those kinds of folks in the area, I’d camp at the rec area and just park my car at the northern trailhead. There is secure trailhead parking at the Ratcliff Rec Area for $3.00/night.

Nice walk in the woods
By Kim on 1/14/2006
Rating: Difficulty: Solitude:
Distance: 16.00 Miles Duration: N/A
Beautiful, well marked trail. We parked at the overlook and hiked to Pond Camp. Hunters trashed out the area, so we made our own camp not far away. We didn't see anyone else all day Saturday and only one other group of hikers on Sunday. The trail was covered in leaves and views were as good as it gets for the piney woods of East Texas. Ticks are still a problem and one must check often to ensure they don't become a problem.