North Shore Bell's Trailhead to Cougar Outlook and Return

Out       Bell's Trailhead > service road (S) > Dinosaur Trail > Upper Big Hill > Badlands > River Bend > service road (NE) > Cougar Outlook      5.7 miles

Return   Cougar Outlook > Javalina > Lower Ghost Camp > River Bend Ghost Camp > Lower Ghost Camp > South Slick Rock > service road (NE) > Shady Trail > Bell's Trailhead      3.5 miles

Temps in the low 70's to start and mid 80's at end. Very high, hazy clouds and a slight Southerly breeze.

Trails are dry, easy to see and traverse. At some point, park personnel had cut back the vast majority of the vegetation from the trails. The lack of rain and the heat is keeping new growth at bay.

Quite a few birds out - Painted Buntings, some kind of hawk and a Yellow Billed Cuckoo were spotted as well as all the usual suspects. Saw my first Horned Toad of the year (photo attached). What surprised me was he didn't move as I approached, I stepped over him before he moved off the trail to some nearby greenery.

Took my shoes off to clear out some of the arrowhead weeds and a tick crawled off my sock; easy to spot and remove. In all my time hiking the park, this is the first time I'd seen one and I hope it's the last. I know a person who had a very severe reaction to Lyme Disease and I want no part of that!

I was the only person on the trails, enjoying the sounds of the wind and the birds as I hiked; it was a very pleasant.

NOTES

Water, shade, info kiosk are available at Bell's Trailhead - water is at the campsites

Shade and info kiosk available at the Dinosaur Tracks Viewing Area on Dinosaur Trail.  Water is available for horses but NO WATER FOR HUMANS.

Shade, info kiosk and bicycle repair station available at Cougar Outlook.

Water, shade, info kiosk and dry toilets available at River Bend Ghost Camp.  

USE CAUTION due to insects and snakes in the toilet area. 

THIS IS THE ONLY POTABLE WATER LOCATION on this hike.