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by Jill Barrett
Summer just begs for people to be outdoors. Hiking is a marvelous way to stay in shape and learn about nature. I tested trails in five St. Louis area parks. The descriptions follow.
Pere Marquette State Park, just outside of Grafton, Illinois, has nearly 12 miles of trails. The 10 trails range from one-fourth of a mile to two and one-half miles in length. One trail is classified as easy and one is classified as difficult. The rest are rated moderate. Pressed for time and inherently lazy, I tried the Dogwood Trail, which is one-half mile long and moderately difficult.
Right. Either I’m really out of shape or I’m used to wimpy trails, because this trail was steep enough to require stairs to climb it. The trail is picturesque, and I wish I could identify plants, but for someone who loves the outdoors as much as I do, I am woefully ignorant of names. (I can’t even remember my friends’ names.)
Neither the names of the trails nor the trail heads are marked, so a map is crucial. Visitors can obtain a map at the aptly named visitors’ center. The center also has all sorts of information about ticks, diseases people can get from ticks and warnings about poisonous snakes — all of which put me in a cheery mood to tackle the trails (I have a pervasive fear of Lyme disease, so the information just fed my obsessions). I also went horseback riding at the park’s stable, and by the time I got through signing the release, I felt an impending sense of doom. But once I hit the trails, the beauty outshined my sense of doom.
Overall, Pere Marquette trails were the most difficult to find and the most difficult to climb, but the beauty of the trails makes it well worth it.
Castlewood State Park has seven trails, according to the website, but the information on the map does not indicate the length some of the trails are. One trail is one and one-half miles and another is seven miles. The trail I tried, the Lone Wolf Trail, has a rock path, which is incredibly hard on the feet. Some of the trails follow the Meramec River and Kiefer Creek. Some of the tails are temporarily closed due to flooding, so check the website before you go. The trail heads are clearly marked with signs and are easy to find amongst the trees.
Babler State Park has four trails, none of which is more than two miles. For those desiring a longer hike, the park has connections between trails. Hawthorne Trail, the shortest trail, is also one of the easier trails I tried. It doesn’t have much incline and is more like a walk in the park than a hike. It’s a good trail to use to introduce children to hiking. Although I don’t know why, I felt as if I was back at Girl Scout Camp except without the girly green uniform — perhaps it was the information on getting an Explorer badge through Missouri State Parks (see below). These trails, too, were clearly marked and easy to access.
The trails at Powder Valley are another way to introduce children to hiking. One trail, Tanglevine Trail, is a one-third mile loop and is handicap-accessible. The longest trail is one and one-fifth mile long, although a shorter loop exists within this trail, so hikers can choose between the long loop or the short loop, which is one-half mile long.
Two of the trails are be steep, but not nearly as steep as those at Pere Marquette, but it is the most family-friendly of the parks. The park is small, so nobody needs to look very hard for the trailheads. No getting lost here. The downside is that the trails are paved and hikers can easily see houses nearby. I call it suburban hiking, but the mile-long trail has a couple of pretty creeks to cross, and sometimes you can see deer.
No discussion of hiking trails is complete without talking about the Katy Trail. I would love to bike the entire trail — all 225 miles of it — but considering that I can’t stay upright on a bike for longer than two minutes, I’m pretty sure it would take me several years of continuous pedaling to complete the trail. The trail is less of a hike and more of a walk, so it would be a good way to spend a leisurely Sunday. Many parts of the trails are handicap-accessible, which is another selling point.
No matter where you hike, remember the hiker’s credo: Take only pictures, leave only footprints.
EXPLORER’S BADGE
Missouri State Parks has an interesting program designed to get people more involved in the whole park experience. People can earn an Explorer’s Badge, which involves completing tasks from four categories. The categories include service projects, interpretive programs, interpretive study and identification. Not only can you complete this at area parks, but you can finish tasks at cultural sites as well. People can also earn multiple badges.
“[This program] is designed to get people more in tune with what’s in state parks,” said Sue Holst, information officer at Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Visitors can obtain information in the visitors’ centers at state parks. (The park officials make it clear that this is a state park program of which conservation areas are not a part.)
The tasks can include activities such as cleaning trails, making a program poster, drawing a map for an important time period in the past, and attending Interpretive staff-led programs.
“It makes people feel a part of the site,” Holst said. “Sometimes they just see one aspect.We want to get the public involved.” Earning this badge draws people into learning more about cultural and natural events around Missouri and taking away some valuable information. The program was originally designed for children, but adults are encouraged to participate.
“Nothing makes you learn something as much as doing it,” Holst concluded.
For more information, check the visitor’s center of your favorite state park.
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