North Shore Bell's Trailhead to Ghost Camp and Back
San Angelo State Park
- 9/16/2020
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Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 5.70 Miles
Duration: 3 hours
Out - Bell's Trailhead > Shady Trail > Trailhead to Trailhead (S) > Scenic Loop > Trailhead to Trailhead (S) > South Slick Rock > Lower Ghost Camp > River Bend Campground > Lower Ghost Camp > Ghost Camp > service road (W) 2.5 miles
Return - Service road (W) > River Bend Trail (N) > Badlands > Upper Big Hill > service road connector (NW) > Rocky Creek > Trailhead to Trailhead (N) > Bell's Trailhead 3.2 miles
Temps started at 63, ended at 75. Mostly cloudy, light and intermittent wind.
Slower paced hike along damp to wet/muddy trails. Trails were still wet from last Wednesday and Thursday's 5-7 inches of rain - rain that is always welcome! The North Concho River actually looks like a river now; there were no dry patches present as there were before the rains. Vegetation has green'ed up as well.
Deer were spotted as was a raccoon who trapped himself inside a dumpster. We gathered fallen branches and made an escape ladder for him. A short minute later, he used the branches to climb out and scampered into the brush. I hope he learned a lesson and will avoid the dumpster but ......
Some birds were out but not as many as I'd hoped for; we saw one large raptor as we were getting ready to leave.
Muddy shoes and feet but a good hike!
NOTES
Info kiosk and a bicycle repair station available at Bell's Trailhead. Water and shade available at the nearby campground.
Water, shade, info kiosk and dry toilets available at the River Bend Campground.
Park Mid-section Burkett Park to Cougar Overlook Figure 8
San Angelo State Park
- 9/7/2020
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Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 11.40 Miles
Duration: 5 hours, 15 minutes
Leg 1 - Burkett Park > WS to LL COnnector > Roller Coaster > West Potts Creek > Potts Creek (E) > Turkey Creek > 5 Points Junction 4.5 miles
Leg 2 - 5 Points Junction > Flintstone (N) > Cougar Overlook > service road WNW > River Bend (S) > 5 Points Junction 2.8 miles
Leg 3 - 5 Points Junction > Flintstone (S) > Playground > Bell's Point > Playground > (East) Potts Creek > Burkett Trail > Burkett Park 4.1 miles
Temp started at 69 and ended at 93. Sunny, no clouds and a steadily increasing SSW breeze.
A very good hike along dry, easy to see and traverse trails. Coming into the park, I saw numerous deer, javalinas and a "shore bird" at the pond closest to Burkett park; the "shore bird" is a juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Heron (photo attached) - the first I've seen at the park.
Not many birds were out at first but the numbers inceased as the hike progressed. I saw a lone Box Turtle that was the size of my fist along the trail just moseying along - been awhile since I saw the last one!
The hike went longer than I expected but was well worth it!
NOTES
Water, shade, info kiosk and dry toilets available at Burkett Park.
Water, shade and info kiosk available at 5 Points Junction.
Shade, info kiosk and a bicycle repair station available at Cougar Overlook.
Water, shade and info kiosk available at Bell's Point.
South Shore Playground Parking Area to Burkett Park and Roadrunner Loop
San Angelo State Park
- 9/3/2020
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Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 11.00 Miles
Duration: 4 hours, 30 minutes
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 > Tasajilla Flats > Playground Parking Area 4.1 miles
Leg 3 - Playground parking area > Roadrunner Loop > Playground parking area 3.4 miles
Temp started at 69, ended at 86. Sunny with haze caused by high humidity, light breeze.
Long and uneventful hike along trails that were dry, easy to see and traverse. I saw numerous deer as well as the "usual suspects" in the bird viewing department. The only things worth mentioning -- the sighting of a foot long Ring-Necked snake, the second of this year, and a male Vermillion Flycatcher. Photos of the snake are of the "so what" type so I'm not bothering to post and the Vermillion Flycatcher was far away to the point the photos easily identified him but again only a "so what" photo.
As mentioned in a prior hike report, even if the hike was uneventful, it was still much better than sitting at home and looking at a computer monitor or television screen!
NOTES
Water, shade, info kiosk, toilets and a bicycle repair station are available at the Playground parking area.
Water, shade, info kiosk and dry toilets available at Burkett Park.
Water and shade are available at numerous campsites along most of Roadrunner Loop. Toilets and info kiosks are available at a few locations as well.
North Shore Bell's Trailhead to Cougar Overlook Loop
San Angelo State Park
- 8/26/2020
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Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 8.40 Miles
Duration: 3 hours, 30 minutes
Out - Bell's Trailhead > Shady Trail > Trailhead to Trailhead (S) > Scenic Loop > North Slick Rock > Lower Ghost Camp > River Bend Campground > Lower Ghost Camp > Trailhead to Trailhead (S) > Cougar Overlook 3.7 miles
Return - Cougar Overlook > service road (WSW) > River Bend > Badlands > service road (E) > Upper Big Hill > Rocky Creek > Trailhead to Trailhead (N) > Bell's Trailhead 4.7 miles
Temp started at 68, ended at 78. Sunny very light breeze.
All trails were easy to see and traverse except for portions of North Slick Rock which could use some vegetation cutting. For many years, along the Shady Trail bordering the North Concho River, there have been trees felled by beavers but I never saw a beaver ... until today. As I hiked along the trail, I saw a "V" cutting along the pool of water in the riverbed (the water has not been flowing for some time now). I watched and saw a fairly large beaver glide along back and forth, seemingly unconcerned I was watching and taking photos. After three minutes of swimming back and forth, he decided he had enough and disappeared under the water. A bit further down the trail, I saw a Summer Tanager - not considered "rare" but definitely uncommon.
The rest of the hike was simply hiking along, listening to the birds and seeing deer bound away. A good hike!
NOTES
Info kiosk and a bicycle repair station are at Bell's Trailhead. Water and shade are available in the nearby campground.
Water, shade, info kiosk and dry toilets are available at the River Bend Campground.
Shade, info kiosk and a bicycle repair station are available at Cougar Overlook.
Park Mid-Section Burkett Park to Cougar Overlook Loop
San Angelo State Park
- 8/21/2020
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Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 9.10 Miles
Duration: 3 hours, 45 minutes
Out - Burkett Park > WS to LL Connector > Roller Coaster > West Potts Creek > Potts Creek > Turkey Creek > 5 Points Junction > River Bend (N) > service road (NE) > Cougar Overlook 5.8 miles
Return - Cougar Overlook > Flintstone > Trailhead to Trailhead (S) > Burkett Trail > Burkett Park 3.3 miles
Temp started at 68, ended at 89. Sunny with high, thin, overcast clouds. Light SE breeze.
All trails were dry and easy to traverse. Animals spotted were deer, longhorns and one monstrously large Jack Rabbit (no photo). There were a few birds out this morning - Mockingbirds, Doves and various sparrows as well as a lone Scissortail Flycatcher. The North Concho River has all but disappeared - there are patches of water but not much is visible (photo attached) - RAIN IS NEEDED !!!!!
NOTES
Water, shade, info kiosk and dry toilets available at Burkett Park.
Water, shade and info kiosk available at 5 Points Junction.
Shade, info kiosk and a bicycle repair station available at Cougar Overlook.