South Shore Playground Parking Area to Burkett Park Loop
San Angelo State Park
- 9/25/2019
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Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 6.60 Miles
Duration: 3 hours
Out - Playground parking area > Tasajilla Flats > Nature Loop > Lanky Lackey > WS to LL Connector > Burkett park 3.7 miles
Return - Burkett park > Winding Snake > Chaparral 2.9 miles
Temp started at 75, ended at 85. Sunny with high wispy clouds, steady SSW wind.
A quiet hike along dry, easy to see and traverse, trails. Birds were somewhat active as I saw a lot of usual suspects and no unusual ones. No animals spotted although I saw a few lizards. The only creatures seen in abundance were grasshoppers of all sizes; they were seen on all the trails.
A quiet and peaceful hike to be sure!
NOTES
Water, shade, info kiosk and dry toilets available at Playground parking area.
Water, shade, info kiosk and dry toilets available at Burkett park.
Park Mid-Section Burkett Park to 5 Points Junction Loop
San Angelo State Park
- 9/21/2019
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Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 7.90 Miles
Duration: 3 hours, 45 minutes
Out - Burkett Park > WS to LL Connector > Roller Coaster > West Potts Creek > Armadill > Turkey Creek > 5 Points Junction 4.3 miles
Return - 5 Points Junction > Flintstone (S) > Playground Trail > Bells Point > Playground Trail > Armadillo > East Potts Creek > Burkett Trail > Burkett Park 3.6 miles
Temp started at 74, ended at 89. Partly cloudy and steady s wind at 10-15 mph.
Pleasant hike along dry, easy to see trails. Only a few portions of the hike had vegetation issues and they weren't severe. There wasn't much wildlife or bird activity except right at the beginning when I spotted three Axis deer with some White tail deer. Otherwise, the wind kept most of the birds low to the ground.
There were quite a few grasshoppers still out. Purple thistle as well as a few wild flowers were being occupied by various insects.
All in all, a nice, quiet, relaxing hike with a cooling wind blowing constantly.
NOTES
Water, Shade, Info kiosk and dry toilets available at Burkett Park.
Water, shade, info kiosk available at 5 Points Junction
Water, shade, info kiosk available at Bell's Point.
South Shore Trail Loop
San Angelo State Park
- 9/3/2019
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Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 6.80 Miles
Duration: 3 hours, 15 minutes
Leg 1 - Burkett Park > Winding Snake > Chaparral > Red Dam Loop > Chaparral > Talley Valley 3.4 miles
Leg 2 - Talley Valley > Horny Toad > Nature Loop > Lanky Lackey > WS to LL COnnector > Burkett Park 3.4 miles
Temps started at 71, ended at 86. Sunny with no wind, some humidity.
A pleasant hike this morning along easy to see and traverse trails. The only portion of today's route that needs some attention is located on the Talley Valley trail; the vegetation needs to be groomed but the trail is easy to see and hike on.
Not much animal activity this morning although I saw a couple of Loggerhead Shrikes at different places on the trails (first in some time), a rather large hawk sitting in a tree a distance away (unknown what type) and at the end of our hike, a Red-tailed Hawk sitting in a tree at Burkett Park .
Also spotted was a good sized Horned Toad, numerous dragonflies and some small birds. While on Red Dam Loop, there is a patch where large numbers of thistle and sunflower plants are in bloom. The buzzing of bees was very loud but I didn't see too many flying around. Caution is advised when going through this area.
Not a lot more to say except the hike was good!
NOTES
Water, shade, info kiosk and dry toilets available at Burkett Park.
South Shore Playground Parking Area to Burkett Park and Roadrunner Loop
San Angelo State Park
- 8/28/2019
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Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 9.70 Miles
Duration: 4 hours
Leg 1 - Playground parking area > Chaparral > Red Dam Loop > Chaparral > Winding SNake > Burkett Park 3.4 miles
Leg 2 - Burkett Park > WS to LL Connector > Lanky Lackey > Nature Loop > Horny Toad > Tasajilla Flats > Playground parking area 3.2 miles
Leg 3 - Playground parking area > Roadrunner Loop > Playground parking area 3.1 miles
Temp started at 71, ended at 90. Humid, overcast with none-to-light wind.
An unusually cooler day which means time to hike! All trails except portions of Roadrunner Loop were dry, groomed and easy to traverse. Portions of Roadrunner Loop are in need of grooming but can still be traverse easily enough.
Today I saw the smallest snake I'd ever seen! On Winding Snake Trail, I saw what looked like a piece of a black shoelace laying on the trail about three feet in front of me. When I moved forward, the "string" moved! It was a Ringneck Snake - jet black with a yellow ring-like collar (photo attached). The snake was only 4-5 inches in length and extremely thin - literally as thick as a shoe lace. He quickly slithered away into the brush. No animals except for a few white tail deer were spotted and bird activity was surprisingly minimal. Later, while on Roadrunner Loop, I spotted a much larger coachwhip snake.
Hiking Edition LPT (Life Pro Tip) - if you have the foresight to bring TP in case "Nature calls", stow it in a Zip-loc bag (or two). This keeps the paper dry, easily accessible and also gives you an easy and sanitary way to dispose of the used paper. Do your business, then put the used paper in the Zip-loc, pack it out and safely dispose of the bag. Although the waste, as well as the paper, is biodegradeable and will eventually disappear, it's rather rude to leave a pile of used paper somewhat near the trail where it can be seen by others. Be courteous to your fellow park users and pack out what you bring in. Thank you!
NOTES
Water, shade, info kiosk and toilets available at Playground parking area.
Water, shade, info kiosk and dry toilets available at Burkett Park.
Water and shade available at various campsites along Roadrunner Loop. There is a toilet located near the mid-point of the Loop.
South Shore Armadillo Ridge to Playground Parking Area Figure 8
San Angelo State Park
- 8/25/2019
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Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 10.20 Miles
Duration: 4 hours, 20 minutes
Leg 1 - Burkett park > Burkett Trail > East Potts Creek > Armadillo (WSW) > West Potts Creek > Roller Coaster > WS to LL Connector > Burkett Park 3.8 miles
Leg 2 - Burkett Park > Winding Snake > Chaparral > Playground Parking Area 2.7 miles
Leg 3 - Playground Parking Area > Tasajilla Flats > Nature Loop > Lanky Lackey > WS to LL Connector > Burkett Park 3.7 miles
Temp started at 71, ended at 96. Sunny with light intermittent breeze. Humid at first then drying.
A few days ago, San Angelo had "scattered thunderstorms"; well, the trails and area North of Burkett Park were wet and the trails and area South of Burkett Park were dry! The trails were easy to see and traverse. Due to the recent rain mentioned earlier, the trails on the first leg were damp to wet and the trails on the second and third legs, were all dry.
I saw activity on the first leg of my hike - a young skunk foraging, birds hopping from tree to tree and bush to bush and a family of seven javalinas wandering the trail. Once I started the second leg of the hike, the birds disappeared as did the wild life with the exception of a couple of white tail deer, otherwise, it was as if all the wildlife went back to bed. Normally, I only battle mosquitoes and gnats, today however, the biting flies were aggressive and I killed quite a few since they would not leave me alone. Grasshoppers are still around but the cicadas were silent.
There were a few mountain bikers and hikers on the trails otherwise it was a quiet, peaceful hike.
NOTES
Water, shade, info kiosk and dry toilets available at Burkett Park.
Water, shade, info kiosk and toilets available at Playground Parking Area.