South Shore - Playground Parking Area to Burkett Park Loop
San Angelo State Park
- 8/13/2026
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Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 7.60 Miles
Duration: 3 hours, 30 minutes
Leg 1 - Playground parking area > Tasajilla Flats > Nature Trail > Lanky Lackey > WS to LL Connector > Burkett Park 4.0 miles
Leg 2 - Burkett Park > Winding Snake > Chaparral > Red Dam Loop > Chaparral > Playground parking area 3.6 miles
Temsp started at 76, ended at 86. Sunnt with 10-15mph SW wind. Low to moderate humidity.
Easy hike along dry, easy to see and traverse trails. Deer were out - lots of fawns! Also saw a hummingbird and a Horned Toad - be awhile since I'd seen either one! A few cottontail rabbits, Mockers, and a few lizards pretty much rounded out the animals and reptiles spotted. Not much was going on so it was a very pleasant, quiet way to spend a few hours in Nature.
NOTES -
Water, shade, info kiosk, toilets and a bicycle repair station are available at Playground parking area.
Water, shade, info kiosk and dry toilets available at Burkett Park.
North Shore - Bell's Trailhead to Cougar Overlook Loop
San Angelo State Park
- 8/7/2026
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Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 9.90 Miles
Duration: 5 hours
Leg 1 - Bell's Trailhead > Dinosaur Trail > Dinosaur Tracks Viewing Area > Dinosaur Trail (N) > Bypass to Big Hill > Big Hill > Badlands > River Bend > park road (NE) > Cougar Overlook 6.6 miles
Leg 2 - Cougar Overlook > Trailhead to Trailhead (N) > Upper Ghost Trail > South Slick Rock > Trailhead to Trailhead (N) > Bell's Trailhead 3.3 miles
Temps started at 75, ended at 96. Sunny, light breeze increasing to SW 5-10mph. Comfortable humidity.
Hiked along dry and for the most part, easy to see trails. Vegetation obscures some portions of the trails and caution is advised which traversing them. In the past sighting an Axis deer was rare but lately, I see between 5 - 10 Axis deer as I drive to the parking area. Today I saw two young bucks (photo attached) and does all within a few minutes of entering the park. Another resident rarely seen was a large porcupine sitting by the road. White tail deer were spotted as were numerous cottontail rabbits. I also saw a hawk flying in the distance. Raptors have become rare for some reason.
Not much else to report except to say for whatever reason, the water stations are no longer working at the Dinosaur Tracks Viewing Area as well as at the River Bend Campground. BRING PLENTY OF WATER WITH YOU BEFORE STARTING OUT!
NOTES -
View the Park's Facebook page and website for current information! NO WATER AT THE NORTH SHORE IS AVAILABLE!
Shade, info kiosk and a bicycle repair station are available at Bell's Trailhead.
Shade and info kiosk are available at the Dinosaur Tracks Viewing Area. NO WATER AT THIS TIME.
Shade, info kiosk and a bicycle repair station are available at Cougar Overlook.
Shade, info kiosk and dry toilets are available at River Bend Campground. NO WATER AT THIS TIME.
South Shore - Playground to Burkett Park + Roadrunner Loop
San Angelo State Park
- 7/31/2026
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Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 10.20 Miles
Duration: 5 hours
Leg 1 - Playground parking area > Chaparral > Red Dam Loop > Chaparral > Winding Snake > Burkett Park 3.5 miles
Leg 2 - Burkett Park > WS to LL Connector > Lanky Lackey > Nature Trail > Horny Toad > Playground Parking Area 3.5 miles
Leg 3 - Playground parking area > Roadrunner Loop > Playground parking area 3.2 miles
Temp started at 75, ended at 94. Sunny, some humidity, slight intermittent SW breeze at 0-5 mph.
Easy hike along mostly rocky trails. Vegetation has been cut back in many places, especially Roadrunner Loop, so the trails are easy to see and traverse. Animals spotted were deer, cottontail and Jack rabbits. A few birds were out and I spotted a very juvenile Nighthawk (photo attached). No raptors were seen. Wildflowers have pretty much disappeared as has the majority of bee bush.
NOTES -
Water, shade, info kiosk, toilets and a bicycle repair station area vailable at Playground Parking Area.
Water, shade, info kiosk and dry toilets available at Burkett Park.
Water and shade at numerous campsites along Roadrunner are available as well as three points where toilet facilities are also available.
Park Mid-section - Balloon on a String Hike Route
San Angelo State Park
- 7/24/2026
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Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 8.80 Miles
Duration: 4 hours, 20 minutes
Leg 1 - Burkett Park > Burkett Trail > Trailhead to Trailhead (N) > Flintstone (N) > Cougar Overlook > park road (W) > Trailhead to Trailhead (S) > River Bend Trail (S) > 5 Points Junction 4.8 miles
Leg 2 - 5 Points Junction > Turkey Creek Trail > Potts Creek Trail (ENE) > Burkett Trail > Burkett Park 4.0 miles
Temps started at 75, ended at 91. Sunny, slightly humid at first but dried out some. NO WIND for first leg then 0-5mph SE intermittent breeze.
Trace the route on the park map and you'l see why the route looks like a balloon on a string.
Easy hike along dry and for the most part, easy to see and traverse mostly rocky trails. Last week we had more rain which did what it always does and washed away surface soil leaving more bare rocks of various sizes in the trails. The benefit of the rain is the bee bush has bloomed again and in many places - the vanilla scent was very prevalent during the entire hike. Deer have birthed litters of twins and I counted three sets. The few bucks I saw have velvet covered antlers. Cottontail and Jack rabbits were out as well. Not too many birds although a few were spotted. A few lizards scampered along the trails and lots of grasshoppers are out. Prickly pear cactus have numerous tunas showing so with all the mesquite bean pods and cactus tunas, there should be a good food supply for awhile. Not so much for the bugs as all the wildflowers are gone but the bee bushes are flowering.
NOTES -
Water, shade, info kiosk and dry toilets available at Burkett Park.
Shade, info kiosk and a bicycle repair station are available at Cougar Overlook. The bicycle repair station air pump is not working as of this date.
Water, shade, and info kiosk are available at 5 Points Junction.
South Shore - Playground Parking Area to Burkett Park + Roadrunner Loop
San Angelo State Park
- 7/9/2026
[View Log Page]
Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 10.20 Miles
Duration: 4 hours, 45 minutes
Leg 1 - Playground parking area > Tasajilla Flats > Nature Trail > Lanky Lackey > WS to LL Connector > Burkett Park 3.9 miles
Leg 2 - Burkett Park > Winding Snake > Chaparral > Playground parking area 3.0 miles
Leg 3 - Playground parking area > Roadrunner Loop > Playground parking area 3.3 miles
Temps started at 75, ended at 95. Sunny, w/SSW wind at 10-15mph. NO CLOUDS!
Easy hike along dry and familiar trails. Some portions of the various trails have vegetation overgrowth but overall they are easy to see and traverse.
Animals spotted were Jack Rabbits (photo attached), Cottontail Rabbits, and numerous whitetail deer. The birds were more plentiful and varied - I saw more Scissortail Flycatchers today than I have in a long time! Quail were also very numerous as were doves, Mockers, various types of sparrows. No reptiles except for a few green lizards.
Flowers are mostly absent although the bee bush looks like it may have another bloom in the near future. Overall, a very relaxing and enjoyable hike feeling the wind on my skin and hearing the sounds of birds singing for mates.
NOTES -
Water, shade, info kiosk, toilets and a bicycle repair station are available at Playground parking area.
Water, shade, info kiosk and dry toilets available at Burkett Park
Water and shade available at numerous campsites along Roadrunner Loop. There are three stations along Roadrunner that have water, info kiosks and toilets available.