Meramec Park
The first hike of the season was spent at Meramec State Park in Sullivan, Missouri.
Initially I hit the Natural Wonders Trail, which is a short 1 mile trail, which the web site boasted as having “Caves, glades, mature forest and overgrown beaver meadows.” I was mostly interested in the caves, although many caves in the state have been closed off to protect bats from white nose disease this year, but I figured it would be worth a shot.
The trail was indeed quite beautiful and very well groomed. I headed out with just my camera in tow and was surprised at the lack of overgrowth along the trail. Afterward, I hit the Wilderness trail, which consists of a 6 mile southern loop and a 4 mile northern loop. I’d intended to do the entire 10 miles, but sadly I cut it short due to relative boredom. The trail was very overgrown with much of the bush over my head, and I was spending a great deal of time flicking off ticks.
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