Category Archives: Hiking

Trail of Tears State Park ~Jackson, MO

 

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.

Will Rogers Birthplace Ranch

My favorite thing about this place is how peaceful it is.

You can tour the inside of the house which is beautiful. My kids like all the animals they have. They even have a little petting area in the barn. This peacock scared my oldest girl!

It was making a bunch of noise in the barn loft.

I did not know there used to be a state park where the ranch is and that they have some hiking trails there. The trails went through tall grass so we did not go far.

It has been a bad year for ticks and chiggers.

So we have been sticking to nice, open hiking trails.

Beautiful views of the lake though. We walked on an old road down to the lake. This boy was concerned that cattle were roaming and he was wearing a red shirt… This looks like a nice peaceful scene but Mayflies were out in droves… They would fly all in your face.

It gave us the opportunity to talk about the short life of a Mayfly though.

Science win.

She is on fire with her poses right now… Mayfly landed on my hand.

I let them see it up close but then could not get it off.

Lots of interesting colors of grasshoppers. My youngest son took this. “Caution Open Range Wildlife” The Ranch is so pretty.

I don’t go on as many field trips with just the kids and I because I am so outnumbered but this one went really well!

 

Garden of the Gods ~Hoosier National Forest, IN

 

I purposely made our route home go past the Shawnee National Forest so we could go on the Garden of the Gods hike again!

My kids raved about this hike last year when we went on it!

Of course when we got there my girls started complaining about hiking and said they did not remember it… Thankfully they remembered it when they started climbing and I heard how much they loved this hike over and over. The views are amazing! Little Bit really wanted to climb like the big kids.

Thankfully there are lots of rocks to climb that are not high and nowhere near a drop off. This kid is awesome with her.

He kept telling her where it was safe for her to go.

You don’t have to climb on this trail.

You can stay on the path and just enjoy the views.

At under 2 miles and a loop, this would be a pretty easy hike if you wanted.

Of course my kids don’t like the easy way. You can see my oldest daughter’s shirt behind me in this group pic.

I did not realize she was not in the shot until everyone had already walked away…

HA

I had her come back for another. Hard to see why I want to go back here over and over, right?

I never knew how beautiful Southern Illinois was.

Amazing.

 

You can get a look at what it was like to hike there with 5 kids here.