Category Archives: Hiking

Devil’s Den State Park, Arkansas

I have wanted to go to Devil’s Den State Park for a couple years now, I had heard it had great hiking.

I finally made it out there and the best part was that a friend watched my boys!

That is right, just Nick and I.

This meant I wanted a harder hike. We do a lot of easier hikes with the boys.

We chose the Butterfield Hiking Trail.

It is a 15 mile backpacking trail that goes into the National Forest also.

Because it does not stay inside the park you have to fill out paperwork before hiking so head to the park office and be prepared with your license plate number.

It might take a while to fill out the paperwork. It took 20-30min. to get everything squared away for us.

It was a really busy day at the park though and the park ranger that helped us spent 15min talking about the trail.

We did finally get going though!

We obviously did not take the bridge across.

We did not do want to do the whole 15 mile loop so we cut across one of the horse trails.

The part of the Butterfield we hiked (northern section) was pretty rocky but the horse trail was extremely so.

Really hard on your feet.

 

We did about 6 miles and had a pretty good time.

I do not know if I will go to this park again any time soon because of all the hassle with the paperwork and the amount of people.

It was packed.

We did go on fall break weekend though.

Maybe if you went when the weather was not so nice or a weekday it would not be so crowded?

Once we got about a mile out we hardly saw anyone so the hike itself was pretty quiet.

 

If you go on the Butterfield be mindful that they are not always consistent with their trail blazes/markers.

Sometimes we just guessed which way to go.

All that said, it was a beautiful hike and I had I a great time ALONE with Nick!

 

Gloss Mountain State Park ~Oklahoma

At the Gloss Mountain State Park.

There is a hiking trail that leads up on top of Cathedral Mountain.

The only difficult part of this hike is getting up the stairs. It is nice and flat after that.

The trail is under 2 miles in length and is the only trail that I know of in the park.

My little climbers.

Beautiful view.

My boys realized that mommy was too close to the edge.

I am klutzy, I think they have figured that out about me already.

I actually stayed far away from the edge. I have found that when I take a picture anywhere near a ledge I feel like I am falling.

Not a pleasant sensation.

I made them come back so Nick could carry my extra lens for me.

I am awesome like that…

Why is it that boys always find playing in dirt to be the highlight of any time spent outside?

We are on top of a Mountain (albeit a small one) and still they just want to dig in the dirt.

What is he looking at?

This little guy.

The poor little thing was scared.

The sunlight started to do amazing things.

I could have stayed up there until the sun was completely gone.

Of course, then I would be stuck on top of a mountain with a spider in the dark…

The plaque talked about the naming of the mountain and the confusion about the name.

I really enjoyed visiting this park.

That being said, it is a very short hike so for next time I will plan on doing other things in the area before going here.

Here is a list of a couple places I want to visit for the next time:

Great Salt Plains State Park

Sod House Museum

Little Sahara State Park

I loved being at the Gloss Mountains at sunset so I will probably save it for last.

Get out and enjoy where you live!

Lake Wedington Recreation Area, AR

I was feeling a bit caged in so I asked my husband if we could make the long drive into Arkansas to hike.

I like the hiking that is closer to us but I needed mountains, forests, and maybe a little bit different.

We ended up at Lake Wedington after our first location ended up not being where I thought on the map and another 2hours away…

A little too far.

They have this really nice bike trail across the road from the park.

It is around 8miles long one way.

It is not a loop so you do have to retrace your steps to get back to the car.

I have read and saw the evidence while hiking (campsites and fire pits) that people do overnights here.

We only hiked a couple hours though.

I was in the mood for something a little harder but it ended up being a good hike.

Nick kept asking Justin what tree the trail blaze was on so he would have to run back and look.

The idea was for him to pay better attention and see them while hiking.

The trail was marked with blue blazes.

I made sure Nick took a picture of me, proof I do go on these hikes!

Gifts from my two little men.

We accendently took a detour on an old access road.

The trail goes off to the right and the road keeps going straight.

We ended up turning around to head back around here anyway.

I told the boys to try to not let the plants touch them.

It was pretty funny to watch.

Heading back to the SUV (I get in big trouble for calling it a car).

This little guy was hanging out on the trail and almost got stepped on.

Good thing I am always looking at the ground (I am afraid I will trip on stuff).

Nick says I am missing everything because I am not looking up but he missed this little guy and I saw him!

So there!

I just miss everything else…