Nice shady hike
User:
M-T-P - 12/3/2005
[View Log Page]
Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 7.00 Miles
Duration: N/A
This was a nice, quiet loop around Bastrop State Park. Soft soil in most areas and a couple of Geocaches along the way.
we did a shortcut across the dirt road
User:
betsy_brunner - 10/15/2005
[View Log Page]
Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 5.00 Miles
Duration: N/A
was a great hike. but the kids got tired so we took the shortcut and only did 5 miles. Nice and shady
enjoyable
User:
ggammon - 9/1/2005
[View Log Page]
Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 8.00 Miles
Duration: N/A
Ive done the lost pines trail 4 times now, twice backpacking in for an overnight. This is my favorite trail for scenic photography. I lug my Mamiya 645 with several lenses and strudy tripod and shoot black and white for display prints. I enjoy the camping in pretty much all seasons on this trail as the pine forest seems to be relatively cool year round (to me anyway). Nice elevation changes and variety of vegetation is nice. I rarely see wildlife even in the deeper portions of the trail though. I do see ALOT of runners on the trail.
relaxing hike
User:
Chris and Holly - 5/7/2005
[View Log Page]
Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 8.50 Miles
Duration: N/A
Lost Pines is a beautiful trail - very shady and fragrant with pines. The first section is particularly beautiful, with pristine loblollys and a thick carpet of ferms. However, much of the hike is through pines that have been recently burned, which definitely takes the shine off this landscape. Furthermore, for the first half of the hike, you can hear the drone of Hwy 71. Even with these flaws, we highly reccomend this hike. After the hike, check out the Roadhouse Cafe at across the road from the entrance to the park.
Prescribed burns change it up
User:
nobody - 2/6/2005
[View Log Page]
Rating: N/A
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 4.00 Miles
Duration: N/A
Much of the park has recently been charred by prescribed burns. They cleared out most of the underbrush and some of the smaller trees. The larger ones are just fine and there seem to be more birds than previously, as they move into the burned areas. I only went so far as the second dirt road, but most of the way there had burn marks on one side of the trail. I then cut over to the other half of the loop and returned, with narry a charred pine needle in sight.
Love this Park
User:
Eveline - 1/29/2005
[View Log Page]
Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 6.20 Miles
Duration: N/A
The day we walked it wasn't raining, but it had rained recently. Lots of muddy areas. Loved the CCC pavilian.
Difficult At Mile 7
User:
chrs2phr1 - 10/11/2004
[View Log Page]
Rating: N/A
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 8.50 Miles
Duration: N/A
Fantastic Hike, Awesome Park. I began to tire out at Mile 7, but the hike was worth it. I wish there were points of interest markers.
For solitude go on week days or early on weekends
User:
belizeman01 - 9/18/2004
[View Log Page]
Rating: N/A
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 4.00 Miles
Duration: N/A
Miss the piney woods! This is the place to go! Explore the outer loops to leave the crowd behind and see more wildlife. Ponds are a great place to see cricket frogs and crawly things!
Pleasant Trail , Lots of visitors
User:
slipline - 3/26/2004
[View Log Page]
Rating: N/A
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 8.50 Miles
Duration: N/A
This is a great hike if your looking for a good workout. The various ponds and plant life are fun to stop and admire. This is made difficult by the ammount of traffic on the trail. There were many folks out on the saturday we did our hike. PLenty of trail runners, other hikers, and tons of boy scouts. Dont go here looking for privacy. Overall nice trail with good scenery. Definately does not look like the Austin area.
Quiet backpacking hike
User:
schrochem - 2/8/2004
[View Log Page]
Rating: N/A
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 7.00 Miles
Duration: N/A
This was a great hike to do an overnight backpacking trip. The weather was nice this time of year and the not too crowded. Past the first old road there is primitive camping aloud as long as you don't build groundfires. This was really nice to just go find a nice spot under a pine tree (any tree :)) and basically have the place to yourself. I went backwards (turned right at the first T) so I ended up camping back by the southeastern most pond.
Very easy hike if you break it up into two days like I did. Most people were going the other way so solitude was interrupted only momentarily and briefly. The pine trees really have an execellent ambiance that really make this a nice place to go so close to Austin.
Piney woods, closer to home
User:
Riff Raff - 10/4/2003
[View Log Page]
Rating: N/A
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 7.50 Miles
Duration: N/A
This is a great hike through wonderful piney woods, without having to drive out to the Big Thicket. Just in the first half mile, I was already being amazed by the ferns carpeting the forest (what's that? ferns in Texas?!). Not very many people on this long loop trail, so I had only the occasional bursts of gunfire from hunters to keep me company. This may sound odd, but I was also amazed by the variety of fungi on this hike. From bright orange to red capped and some of your usual white varieties with caps bigger than my fist. Beautiful.
Nice hike in the pine trees
User:
figment - 7/2/2003
[View Log Page]
Rating: N/A
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 4.00 Miles
Duration: N/A
I cut the loop short by cutting down the second road, which is wide, red, dirt. It's always nice to go for a walk in the pine trees.
A leisurely Hike!
User:
oceanus - 6/29/2003
[View Log Page]
Rating: N/A
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 7.50 Miles
Duration: N/A
The Lost Pines Trail at Bastrop State Park is an anomaly in Central Texas. Though these pines are all regrowth forest (the original pines burned in a forest fire in the early 1900s) it is still beautiful; anywhere you can get a whiff of pine while hiking is great. The trail is mostly flat, with an occasional rise here and there. There is abunadant shade, so even hiking during midday was tolerable. I did'nt see a single person my first day out, and on the way back in this morning, I only saw four people at the trailhead. I would have given it a higher solitude rating, if it was'nt for the constant gun fire I heard my first day. As for wildlife, I saw whitetail deer, blackheaded vultures, red-headed woodpeckers, skinks, and a baby Houston toad. Overall, it's an enjoyable hike, only 30 miles from Austin.
Pines Needles
User:
outofbounds - 1/1/2003
[View Log Page]
Rating: N/A
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 9.83 Miles
Duration: N/A
If you want a quiet hike this is it. All I could hear most of the day was the wind blowing in the trees. Lots of pine needles and leaves on the ground made for a soft trail. The trail was wet in some places from the rain a few days earlier but with the needles the mud can be avoided. I also hiked a few other short trails today and that is why my mileage is high. This park is worth the drive.
Great Hike!
User:
Reaughstar - 9/22/2002
[View Log Page]
Rating: N/A
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 8.50 Miles
Duration: N/A
We went out to Bastrop today as relatively new hikers...and loved it! The weather was great...not especially humid and the tree cover is so nice. There were 3 or 4 people on the front mile or so but after that we saw no one. The needles were comfortable to walk on and great to sit and take a snack break. Highly recommended!
Nice Hike
User:
JClair - 4/20/2002
[View Log Page]
Rating: N/A
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 8.50 Miles
Duration: N/A
Don't know exactly why, but this hike sure seemed longer this day. My thoughts are because it was so humid it made it seem longer...but the hike is great and the solitude was also, even on a Saturday. Saw four people on the hike, stopped for a break and lunch and talked to a very nice person (Tom S. from San Antonio ) told him to check out the Austin Explorer...............I recommend the hike, but beware of the humidity in the area...ENJOY
Shady Trail Bliss
User:
Austin Explorer - 3/10/2002
[View Log Page]
Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 7.00 Miles
Duration: N/A
Having grown up in Louisiana, this hike was almost like walking some of the trails in that area. There's ample shade most of the time and solitude at the back of the trail. I didn't see or hear any Houston Toads though.