Category Archives: Hiking

Camping, Hiking, My Family

We went camping for Christmas!

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We wanted to do a trial camping trip with our new puppy but wanted to stay pretty close to home in case it went badly.

Osage Hills State Park was a perfect choice!

It was not very far away from our house and is a favorite hiking spot for us.

In fact my oldest went on his first hike there when he was one month old!

There were only a few other people camping so we had a huge area for the kids to play.
Milo did great on his first camping trip and loved hiking!

We saw so many Armadillo that I didn’t even look anymore when one of the kids yelled they saw one.

Ha

While up that way we went to the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve.

So many Bison and some beautiful hiking trails!

 

 

We went to see Christmas Lights in Bartlesville at Johnstone Park.

We did a lot of hiking.

And we checked out the Hulah Lake Wildlife Management Area and Wha Sha She Park(used to be state park).

We did not hit the WMA at the best time of day so I did not see much.

And the park was kind of run down with not much there.

They were both in pretty areas though.

We headed home on Christmas Eve after one more hike. I think if I had a tradition for the holidays it would be hiking and camping.

Now I just need to convince my kids to go on a Christmas hike every year…

 

Hiking, Kid Friendly Hikes, My Family, Parks

Hiking the Nature Trails in Beavers Bend State Park

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We were going to take the South Park Trail near our campground to the Beaver Creek Trail but…
We didn’t bring waders… This one was not a nature trail but most of the others we went on were.
I took three kids on this next short hike.It was listed as a nature trail. It was right across from the Nature Center.

I never did get to see inside the Center, they kept odd hours and were only open once the whole time we were there.Another beautiful hike.

I only took three kids with me for this hike also. This time we found a good spot to cross and continue on the trail. So pretty.

We all went on the Cedar Bluff Nature Trail together.

It ended up being pretty uphill but the view at the top was beautiful. I get a little crazy about wanting to see everything so I was bummed to realize I missed a few nature trails but the ones we went on were beautiful!

If you have young kids or need an easy hike, look for nature trails.

They are usually short 1-2 miles or even less and pretty easy.

Camping, Hiking, Parks

Trail of Tears State Park ~Jackson, MO

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On our way home from Indiana, we stopped at the Trail of Tears State Park.

The big plus of the campground at the park is that it was right next to the Missippi River!

The downside was the train track that ran right next to it.

And the train that runs 24/7, it honks it’s horn as it’s going past also…

In the MIDDLE of the night.

Ouch. They did have nice bathrooms and a playground but they were not in the campground but a little ways away from it.

I believe there was a vault type toilet in the campground though.

The Missippi was incredable to see this close up.

It was like a living breathing thing.

So intense.Another bonus of this park was the Museum at the visitors center.

I have become fascinated with learning all I can about early Native American culture and sharing it with the kids.A deadly crossing happened near the park on the Missippi.A trail goes behind the nature center and I was excited to go on it but it ended up being a really narrow trail with a lot of bugs and poison ivy.This was the trail I was using to test out if we wanted to go on a longer hike while at the park and I decided not to.

It is hard to deal with narrow trails that have poison ivy with kids.

They are constantly brushing up against it!

We were pretty excited to be back at the start.

This park does have some pretty views of the Missippi though.This overlook was amazing also.I saw pictures like this when I was looking for places to stay and it convinced me to stop there.

So I was pretty determined to find this deck.

I would like to check out this park again when it is a bit colder so less bugs and maybe the trails are not as close.