South Shore Playground parking area to Isabel Harte and the Roadrunner Loop
San Angelo State Park
- 1/20/2020
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Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 8.00 Miles
Duration: 3 hours, 20 minutes
Leg 1 - Playground parking area > Tasajilla Flats > Nature Loop > park road (NNE) to Isabel Harte > Chaparral Trailhead 3.0 miles
Leg 2 - Chaparral Trail > Red Dam Loop > Chaparral Trail > Playground parking area 2.0 miles
Leg 3 - Playground parking area > Roadrunner Loop > Playground parking area 3.0 miles
Temp started at 37, ended at 50. Partly cloudy then sunny. Little to no wind.
Trails on legs 1 & 2 were damp but easy to hike on. Numerous deer were out in small and large groups - in one herd, I counted 12 deer. There were few birds out and the ones that were, stayed fairly low to the ground or in the brush. When I hiked on Roadrunner Loop, the trail was much wetter; numerous times, I stopped to knock off clumps of mud that stuck to my hiking boots. On this part of the hike, there was no animal or bird activity.
Overall, the hike was uneventful but relaxing.
NOTES
Water, shade, info kiosk, toilets and a bicycle repair station are available at Playground Parking Area.
Water and shade are available at various campsites parallel to Roadrunner Loop. Toilets available at two locations alongside the the trail as well.
South Shore Burkett Park to Roadrunner Loop and back
San Angelo State Park
- 1/9/2020
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Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 8.90 Miles
Duration: 3 hours, 40 minutes
Leg 1 - Burkett Park > WS to LL Connector > Lanky Lackey > Nature Loop > Tasajilla Flats > Roadrunner Loop (by park entrance) > Playground parking area 6.0 miles
Leg 2 - Playground parking area > Chaparral > Winding Snake > Burkett Park 2.9 miles
Temps in low 70's, sunny with a steady 10 mph Westerly wind.
First hike of 2020! Starting mileage is 2665.4 miles with 335 logged entries.
Late start for the hike - started at 1300 - but it was good nonetheless. The animals and birds were not visible until near the end of the hike when I saw a couple of deer as well as a few birds. It wasn't until I was driving back home that I saw 11 javalinas crossing the park road in front of me.
Trash was picked up along the trail, I got to stretch my legs and enjoy the sunshine and warm temperatures so it was a good hike.
NOTES -
Water, shade, info kiosk and dry toilets available at Burkett Park.
Water, shade and bathrooms available at various points at the campsites parallel to Roadrunner Loop.
Water, shade, info kiosk, toilets and a bicycle repair station available at Playground parking area.
Park Mid-Section Burkett Park to Cougar Overlook and back
San Angelo State Park
- 12/31/2019
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Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 8.40 Miles
Duration: 3 hours, 30 minutes
Out - Burkett Park > Burkett Trail > service road (ENE Trailhead to Trailhead Trail) > Cougar Overlook 3.0 miles
Return - Cougar Overlook > service road (SSW) > River Bend (S) > 5 Points Junction > Turkey Creek > Armadillo (W) > West Potts Creek > Roller Coaster > WS to LL Connector > Burkett Park 5.4 miles
Temps started at 64, ended at 54. Sunny with high wispy clouds, light wind.
Last hike for 2019! The route out was very easy since the majority of it was on the service road. I watched two fairly large hawks chase after birds - the birds escaped and the hawks went hungry. The return leg was almost as easy, the trails were dry except for a few places where there was mud from rains we had a few days ago. Longhorns were out wandering in groups of six or less; some of the groups had young calves with them.
All in all, it was a nice, quiet hike and a good way to end the year.
STATS - Mileage at beginning of the year - 2324.5 Mileage at the end of the year - 2665.4 Total miles hiked - 340.9 Number of hikes this year - 40
NOTES
Water, shade, info kiosk and dry toilets available at Burkett Park.
Shade, info kiosk and bicycle repair station at Cougar Overlook.
Water, shade, info kiosk available at 5 Points Junction.
South Shore Roadrunner Loop and a Trash Pick-up
San Angelo State Park
- 12/27/2019
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Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 5.80 Miles
Duration: 3 hours, 30 minutes
Leg 1 - Park road to park entrance and back. 2.8 miles
Leg 2 - Playground parking area > Roadrunner Loop > Playground parking area 3.0 miles
Temp was 64, heavy overcast and 10-15 mph wind.
As I drove along the park road to the entrance, I was saddened by the amount of trash lying along, and near, the road so I resolved to spend the first portion of today's hike picking it up. I walked both sides of the road and filled a large black trash bag with empty beer bottles and cans, lots of fast food wrappers, a few Starbucks and AllSup's cups, plastic straws, innumerable cigarette butts (the Marlboro Man continues to ride!) and quite a bit of loose paper. I'm sure in a day or so, there will be some trash to replace what was picked up but at least for the time I was there, the entire road to the park entrance was trash-free.
The hike along Roadrunner was good - the trail had been groomed and leveled in the recent past (photo attached). I saw about a dozen white tail deer at various places on the trail, no bucks though. A few birds were out but it was pretty quiet.
Not much else to report!
NOTES
Water, shade, info kiosk, a bicycle repair station and toilets available at Playground parking area.
Water and shade are available at various campsites along Roadrunner Loop and there are two shower houses/toilets along the route.
North Shore Bell's Trailhead to Cougar Overlook and Back
San Angelo State Park
- 12/13/2019
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Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 9.40 Miles
Duration: 4 hours, 30 minutes
Out - Bell's Trailhead > service road (.25 miles S) > Dinosaur Trail > DInosaur Viewing Area > Dinosaur Trail > Upper Big Hill > Badlands > River Bend > service road (NNE) > Cougar Overlook 5.7 miles
Return - Cougar Overlook > Javalina Trail > River Bend (WNW) > service road (N) > Lower Ghost Camp Trail > River Bend Campground > Lower Ghost Camp Trail > South Slick Rock > service road (WNW) > Scenic Loop > service road (N) > Shady Trail > Bell's Trailhead 3.7 miles
Temps started at 44, ended at 70. Sunny with no wind on the way out but a steady 10-15 mph NNW wind on the way back.
Hiked along damp and, in some places, muddy trails today. Saw numerous turkeys, deer (bucks, does and fawns) and various birds including Kestrels, hawks, White Crowned Sparrows, and others. The North Concho River has water in places but there are a lot of parts of the river that are dry; easy to see this when you get to Cougar Overlook and view the river. There is a large rock in the middle of the river that's a good gauge - when there is water in the river, the top of the rock is visible but when the water is low (like now), the entire rock is dry as well as the land around it. We need rain and lots of it!
NOTES
Water and info kiosk available at Bell's Trailhead.
Water, shade, info kiosk are available at the Dinosaur Viewing Area.
Shade, info kiosk and a bicycle repair station are available at Cougar Overlook.
Water, shade, info kiosk and dry toilets available at River Bend Campground. Be cautious when using the toilets