Leg 1 - Playground parking area > Roadrunner Loop > Playground parking area      3.1 miles

Leg 2 - Playground parking area > Tasajilla Flats > Nature Loop > Lanky Lackey > Suzanne's Trail > Burkett park > Winding Snake > Chaparral > Red Dam Loop > Chaparral > Playground parking area   6.7 miles

Temps in the low 80's, sunny w/clouds, steady light breeze.

We've had much needed and welcome, rain off and on for the past week so the trails are damp and slick for the most part - vegetation has gone WILD!  In addition, when I hiked through portions of the trails that blocked the wind, the gnats were thick and FEROCIOUS!

There are sections of Tasajilla Flats and Roadrunner Loop that are extremely difficult to hike through - some of the brush is chest high and the trail was hidden.  I talked to a ranger about closing some of the trails due to the thick vegetation, he told me the park personnel planned to begin trail maintenance this coming week.

Saw lots of birds today including a Blue Grosbeak, Painted Bunting, Yellow Billed Cuckoo, two Roadrunners and lots of Black-throated Sparrows.

I also saw a Mexican Ground Squirrel which is not common for the park (photo atttached).

NOTES

Water, shade, info kiosk and toilets available at Playground parking area.

Water, shade, info kiosk and dry toilets available at Burkett park.

Out     Burkett park > Burkett > East Potts Creek > Armadillo > Playground > Bell's Point > Playground > Flintstone > 5 Points Junction     3.4 miles

Return 5 Points Junction > Turkey Creek > Armadillo  (E) > East Potts Creek > Burkett > Burkett park     3.4 miles

Temps in the mid 80's, humid, cloudy and light wind.

Very humid and hot but a nice hike.  There really wasn't much going on today; saw lots of lizards, some birds and one small horned toad.  I watched a hawk being chased off by two smaller birds (photo attached) which looked like a pair of Kingbirds.

NOTES

Water, shade, info kiosk and dry toilets at Burkett park.

Water and shade available at Bell's Point.

Water, shade and info kiosk available at 5 Points Junction.

Out     Playground parking area > Tasajilla Flats > Nature Loop > Lanky Lackey > Suzanne's Trail > Burkett park > Suzanne's Trail > Roller Coaster > West Potts Creek > Armadillo > Turkey Creek > 5 Points Junction   8.2 miles

Return 5 Points Junction > Flintstone (S) > Playground Trail >Armadillo (W) > East Potts Creek > Burkett Trail > Burkett park > Winding Snake > Chaparral> Playground parking area   6.5 miles

Temps in low 70's to start and upper 80's at end.  Sunny and windy.

Lesiurely hike today. Major portions of the Tasajilla Flats trail is overgrown with vegetation - be careful and make sure you don't step on a snake!  I saw lots of lizards, lots of birds including Black Throated sparrows, a Yellow Billed Cuckoo, a couple of Night Hawks, a Great Horned Owl and numerous Mockingbirds.  There are many wildflowers out and the prickly pear cactus are starting to bloom as well.  The scent of vanilla from the Bee Brush shrubs is very strong!

Found a dead Worm Snake that was about 4 inches long and as thick as a piece of heavy twine - there were no marks on him so I have no idea why he died. Further on, I found a dead lizard with no visible marks on him either.

I saw a mountain biker when I started and two mountain bikers near the end of the hike; otherwise, the trails were mine!  A great hike overall!

NOTES

Water, shade, info kiosk and toilets available at Playground parking area.

Water, shade, info kiosk and dry toilets available at Burkett park (visit on way out and back).

Water, shade and info kiosk available at 5 Points Junction.

Water and shade available at Bell's Point - 1/2 miles South from the northern end of Playground Trail.

Out     Burkett park > Burkett > East Potts Creek > Armadillo (E) > Playground > Bell's Point          2.7 miles

Return  Bell's Point > Playground (N) > service road (ENE) > service road (SW) > Burkett > Burkett park   2.0 miles

Temps in the low 80's, sunny and steady wind.

Nice hike with friends. Saw a Coachwhip snake, a mating pair of Horned Toads, a porcupine and a roadrunner with a mouse in it's beak.  Some trash on the trails as well but it wasn't much.

Only one low spot on the trail was muddy so I won't complain.  All in all, a nice hike.

First Hike -

Playground parking area > Roadrunner Loop > Playground parking area     3.1 miles

Second Hike -

Out      Burkett park > Suzanne's Trail > Roller Coaster > West Potts Creek > Armadillo > Turkey Creek > 5 Points Junction      4 miles

Return  5 Points Junction > Flintstone (S) > Playground > Bell's Point > Playground > Armadillo > East Potts Creek > Burkett Trail > Burkett park     3.6 miles

Temps in the mid 60's to start and upper 70's at end, sunny and steady, breeezy wind.

Wanted to do two hikes today and did.  On the first hike, I saw three Vermillion Flycatchers which is very unusual because in all the years visiting this park, this is the first year I've seen ANY of these birds and now they're all over!

Second hike was just as interesting as I saw my first Black Chinned Hummingbird of the year as well as my first rattler.  Also saw many other birds and a feral cat running on the trail.  The vegetation continues to grow and the trails are looking shaggier all the time. 

The scent of just blooming Bee Brush was carried on the steady winds as well as the scent of other flowers - very pleasant indeed!

NOTES

Water, shade, info kiosk and toilets available at Playground parking area.

Water, shade, info kiosk and dry toilets available at Burkett park.

Water, shade and info kiosk available at 5 Points Junction.

Water and shade available at Bell's Point (near the North end of Playground Trail).

Out      Burkett Park > Suzanne's Trail > Rollercoaster> West Potts Creek > Armadillo > Turkey Creek > 5 Points Junction > River Bend > Badlands> Dinosaur Trail > service road (N) > Bell's Trailhead       10.3 miles

Return  Bell's Trailhead > Shady Trail > service road (WSW) > South Slick Rock > Lower Ghost Camp > service road (S) > Cougar Overlook > service road (WSW) > Burkett Trail (S) > Burkett park                             5.9 miles

Temps started at 52 and ended at 67, sunny and a pretty steady Northerly wind.

A long hike I wanted to do while the weather was cooler.  Note to self - don't wear wool socks!  I had holes on both socks at the same place - the ball of each foot now has a sizeable blister, no fun.

The hike otherwise was enjoyable.  I saw lots of birds including Turkeys (photo attached), quail, different sparrows, a Vermillion Flycatcher (second I've seen at the park), Ash Throated Flycatchers and a Myrtles Warbler (second at the park).  Later by the river, large alligator turtles were floating and I spooked a Great Blue Heron.  Near Cougar Overlook there were a few longhorns with their calves so I gave them a wide berth.

The trails are dry and decent although with Spring finally here, some of the trails North of 5 Points Junction, have spots that are "shaggy" with vegetation but I was able to go through it.

No snakes or other reptiles and no animals, today was Bird Day.

NOTES

Water, shade, info kiosk and dry toilets available at Burkett Park.

Water, shade, and info kiosk available at 5 Points Junction.

Water, shade and info kiosk availabe at the Dinosaur Tracks Viewing area along Dinosaur Trail.

Water, shade and info kiosk available at Bell's Trailhead.  You have to look for the water receptacle North of the dumpster in the park.

Shade and info kiosk available at Cougar Overlook.

Temps in the low 60's, sunny and light wind.

Route is easy to follow - you go in the gate, follow the path/dirt road for approx 3 miles.  When you come to the barbed wire fence turn around and go back the same route.

Although the land itself isn't too scenic, you can walk among desiduous trees, along the river, observe quite a few cattle, and view some birds - this was a good hike.  I saw for the first time a White Faced Ibis and for the first time at this park, a pair of Vermillion Flycatchers. (photo attached)

The first part of the path is overgrown but once you come to the power lines, the path widens into a dirt road and is pretty good.  Only issues you may have are the longhorns; a few were standing their ground on the road so we gave them a wide berth and made a detour. 

The North Concho River has water flowing and that is always good.  Still lots of debris from last year's floods along the banks and where the water was high.  Quite a few ducks and turtles as well.

NOTES

Recommend you check in at the North Shore gatehouse and park by the bathhouse.  You will cross the road (FM2288) and the swinging gate is there. 

Water, shade and toilets available at the North Shore bathhouse - there are no facilities available on the West side of FM2288.

Temps in the lower 70's, sunny and steady wind.

Today was "clean up the trails" day.  I hiked the Roadrunner Loop, the Lanky Lackey and Horny Toad trails with the specific purpose of picking up trail trash.  Needless to say, the vast majority of trash was old cans and bottles with a few modern pieces of trash throw in.

The trails picked were ones that I had seen specific areas of heavy trash on.  I cleaned up all of Lanky Lackey and about 90% of the broken glass on Horny Toad.  Roadrunner Loop seems to grow trash every time I hike it so I can't tell how much more I will find.

NOTES

Water, shade, info kiosk and toilets available at Playground parking area.

Water and toilets available at the mid-way point on Roadrunner Loop (at the campground).

Temps in the low 70's, cloudy and windy.

Fitness hike with friends along Roadrunner Trail at the South Shore.  Not much to see, just a chance to hike and talk. 

Went to the bird blind and saw some birds (photo attached).

NOTES

Water, shade, info kiosk and toilets available at Playground parking lot.

Water and toilets available at the campground at the mid-way point.

Temps in the mid-60's to low 70's, cloudy, light wind.

Today was spent cleaning up what I called "The Loop" but what is really called "Roadrunner Trail".  Roadrunner Trail is a mostly dirt, fairly level loop about 3 - 3 1/2 miles in diameter.  My distance was so high because as I hiked, I picked up trash, left the full bag on the side of the road, hiked back to the car, drove the car to the trash (not recorded!), park the car there, then hike again as I picked up more trash, repeated numerous times.

All told, I picked up a LOT of trash and the trail looks a lot better and is much safer (there were numerous broken bottles and glass shards).  The trail doesn't have a lot to offer but if you get there early in the morning, there are numerous birds and some animals moving about. 

I was on the trail yesterday and saw a Verdin (photo attached) - didn't see him today as I was concentrating on finding and removing as much debris as possible.

NOTES

Water, shade, info kiosk and toilets available at Playground parking lot.

Water and toilets available at the mid-way point of the loop.

Trash Hike  -

    North end of Horny Toad > Talley Valley > return       2.0 miles

Real Hike   -

    Out      Burkett park > Suzanne's Trail > Roller Coaster > West Potts Creek > Armadillo > Turkey Creek > 5 Point Junction       4.3 miles

    Return  5 Points Junction > Flintstone (S) > Playground > Bell's Point > Playground (S) > Armadillo > East Potts Creek > Burkett Trail > Burkett park    3.6 miles

Temps in the low 60's to start and low 70's at end, sunny, STRONG gusty WSW wind.

I decided to do a "short" hike on Horny Toad and Talley Valley to complete last week's trash pick-up.  I filled two more 40 pound bags and quit - there are still at least one, if not two, more bags I will get next week.  Surprisingly, I found a LARGE trash dump of cans and bottles from the "old days" that I will not mess with since it is off the beaten trails.

My real hike was from Burkett Park to 5 Points Junction and as usual it was very nice!  The trails are in good repair for the most part and the constant wind blew the heavy scent of blooming agarita bushes to me as well as kept me cool. 

I saw a Roadrunner (photo attached) that was fascinated with the sound of my camera shutter in high speed mode.  Also saw numerous other birds but no reptiles or mammals.

NOTES

Water, shade, info kiosk and dry toilets available at Burkett park.

Water, shade and info kiosk at 5 Points Junction.

Water and shade at Bell's Point.

1st Leg   Playground parking area > Chaparral > Talley Valley > return        1.4 miles

2nd Leg  Playground parking area > Tasajilla Flats > Horny Toad > return    2.2 miles

3rd Leg   Playground parking area > Tasajilla Flats > Nature Loop > Lanky Lackey > Suzanne's Trail > Burkett park > Burkett > East Potts Creek > Armadillo     5.2 miles

4th Leg   Armadillo (W) > West Potts Creek > Roller Coaster > Suzanne's Trail > Burkett park > Winding Snake > Chaparral > Playground parking area            5.7 miles

Temps started in the mid-40's ended in the mid-70's, sunny and steady wind.

The first two legs were a combination of hiking and trash pick-up.  Picked up two 40 pound bags of trash; unfortunately, there is enough trash to fill another bag or two waiting for me - I'll get that picked up next week.

The final two legs were hiking with minor trash pick-up - it's just an unfortunate fact that not all people who use our parks are responsible enough to pick up after themselves.  I won't get on THAT soapbox but it irks me to no end to walk along the trail and see a styrofoam cup, water bottle, GU package or candy wrapper laying just off the trail because some "nature lover" couldn't be bothered to put the empty in a trash can.

More agarita bushes blooming, many birds out and at the end of the hike, I saw an armadillo - the first in quite a long time!

NOTES

Water, shade, info kiosk and toilets available at Playground parking area.

Water, shade, info kiosk and dry toilets available at Burkett park - you will be here twice if you follow my route.