Cool Spring Hike
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texasgrape - 3/14/2006
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Distance: 5.20 Miles
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Took my 6 year old grandson on the west trail again along with son/girlfriend, and wife. A nice hike for all. Mountain laurels and Redbuds in full bloom! Smell the mountain laurels: grape bubble gum smell. Seeds are poisonus, though!
Tough trail with lots to see
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Soonhorn - 11/19/2005
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Distance: 6.00 Miles
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We took the east trail to see the maples. Very nice country, but the trail gets very rocky and rough by the mid point and there is a very tough mountain to climb and the decent is very rough. Once you are past that, it is smooth sailing again. Lots of people but hardly any dogs. Most folks travel to get to this park. The drive there is fantastic. Rough day but well worth it. Take the time to go to the look out point at the top of the mountain. It adds about .6 miles to your trail but very much worth it.
Ah, this is Texas!
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kcameron - 10/20/2005
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Distance: 8.00 Miles
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My wife and I hiked the East and West trails of this beautiful park. We are 50+ years of age, and the steep grades on both trails did challenge us. We found the climb up from Hale Hollow Creek to be the steepest climb, and the grade down to Primitive Camp C along Can Creek was difficult for us due to all the loose rock. But the scenery is gorgeous. Unfortunately, we saw little color. I expect the greatest color to occur within the next 10 days. We started early (about 8:20 AM) from the East Trail Trailhead, and did not encounter anyone at all until we ran into another couple and their dog in Mystic Canyon. We then ran into another couple near Primitive Camps E and F. The trails are really in good shape, and there are good signs at most trail junctions. There were a couple of places, though, where we had a little trouble figuring out where the trail went.
Midweek in Spring can't be beat.
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Austin_skater - 4/27/2005
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Distance: 11.00 Miles
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I just spent two wonderful days at Lost Maples. I was one of 3 backpackers camping there, with a total of 8 campsites. I had the entire East Trail section to myself.
It may not be as pretty as it is in the Fall, but I wanted peace and quite, which I got.
http://community.webshots.com/album/332878377dLRwqA
start from Maple trail for easiest uphill
User:
riverrat - 11/25/2004
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Distance: 5.00 Miles
Duration: 6 hours
First trip there with kids ages 6 and 4 which is why our time is a bit longer than some. First hike ever for us in LM was the East Trail, going in from the far east side (Maple Trail). First mile or so is easy hiking with a few stream crossings . After primitive campsite A you will be facing a very steep climb up what we call the "stairs". This can be tough on your knees. Take your time. Some shade can be found. The main overlook should not be missed. You will be overlooking The Ponds and will be able to see the trail that you will be following down. From this vantage point it looks fairly level. NOT. It is known as the "killer mile of boulders" in some circles. One step then slide a little. One more step, slide a little more. Much easier going down than up in my opinion. Once at the Ponds spend time walking up stream aways. Just downstream from the Ponds is a waterfall, sometimes big sometimes not so much. From there back to the overflow parking lot is an easy mostly level hike with a few more stream crossings. Finish out the hike by heading back to the day use area and where you started this hike. The majority of the people we saw were either at the Ponds or at the beginning of the trail. Leaves are usually mostly gone by thanksgiving.
A great park
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leemark45 - 11/4/2004
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Distance: 11.00 Miles
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When I first went to this park about 15 years ago, the parking lot was almost full. Such was the case again! A lot of people apparently visit Lost Maples throughout the year. However, the trail didn't seem to be too crowded once I got to the interior. The maples had dropped most of their leaves and the fall colors were just about gone but that didn't matter. It was a great day nonetheless. This is a favorite location and I'll be visiting it again in the near future.
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cjh921 - 10/16/2004
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Distance: 4.60 Miles
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Took the East Trail and the Maples trail. Steep and rough 1.5 miles nearly did us in. Leaves were not changing yet, but still a nice hike.
NIce hike!
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texasgrape - 5/22/2004
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Took the West Trail. Took my 5 and 7 year old grandsons. They did great! We took our time, packed a lunch, went swimming and I bought them hiking sticks. They earned their first hiking stick medallion! A beautiful hike and we will definitely do again. :-)
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Eveline - 5/3/2004
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Won't delete
great hike
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roger nicholas - 4/5/2004
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Distance: 11.00 Miles
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drove from ft.worth with scouts. got there was raining lightly.started at first parking lot and went to camp site F the first day. stopped rain when we got up to site F. had time to make camp and put up rain fly before it started to rain again. next day we hiked to site H .the hike on the river bed had me worried about the boys but everybody did great. the rain the day before brought the stream up some. you need good boots with all the crossings of the stream and rock. that night at site h it rained 4.5 inches that night. only had one tent that was wet very much in side. next day we dried out a bit before packing up for site A. This was the hardest with all of the up and downs to get there. The weather was great going to site A that day we stopped at site C for lunch then went on to site A. when the map says steep it means it. Site A was the best camping spot oof the sites on the trail. one thing going from H to A with 4.5 inches of rain the night before the river was up and made for some wet crosssings. really had great time ......roger
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TNapalm - 3/20/2004
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great place. Solitude if you find the right place; lots of people in the "not hard to reach" areas. Lots of boy scouts in primivtive sites B and C; F and E were fairly empty. Ask about the sites at the front desk; the lady there warned us about a site in the upper northwest corner on the park that apparently has a lot of trouble with ticks. Suck.
Awesome
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ilovepahp2003 - 1/2/2004
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Distance: 5.00 Miles
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You have to hike and find the beauty of this place.. my favorite is crossing the clear stream where all those huge boulders have fell off of the canyon wall and are sitting in the water..
Great way to spend a day in the Hill Country
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SA68AG - 12/6/2003
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Distance: 11.00 Miles
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I find this to be a very enjoyable and scenic hike. The Maple and East trails catch a lot of traffic but they are still very scenic. The trail traffic on the West Trail and through Mystic Canyon is about 20% of the East trail. The West Loop doesn't appear to get much traffic but I find it to be the least scenic and least interesting part of the park.
Get there early
User:
maxrebo - 11/11/2002
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Distance: 5.00 Miles
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Go on a weekday during late October or early November, and DO NOT FORGET THE CAMERA!!!
User:
shag - 11/5/2002
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Distance: 12.00 Miles
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HIlls and Creeks
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BrownBoots - 6/15/2002
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Distance: 11.00 Miles
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We planned to do only the East Loop, but after finishing and lunching along the creek, we decided to go for the West Loop as well. The lower portions of both trails are mostly rocky, shady, and follow dry creek beds for the majority of the time (a few had water, but were easy to cross). Each loop has a STEEP climb up to the ridge. There are great views down into the valley from the top, but the trail along the ridge is very exposed and very sunny. Along the East Loop, on top of the ridge, there is an optional trail to a lookout - this is worth the extra 1/2 mile or so. We encountered 2 Boy Scout troops up on the ridge. (They had been camping in the primitive camps areas.) The two trail loops meet at a pond/creek area. This was busy, but once you get back on the hiking portions of the trails, it is not congested. The West Loop was more solitary. There are some great rock outcroppings with maiden fern growth. Combining both loops is a good day of hiking - we would have been dissappointed if we had just done the East Loop.
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Eveline - 4/27/2002
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Distance: 6.20 Miles
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Pictures: http://www.angelfire.com/tx5/walk_texas/Lost_Maples/LostMaplesSP.html
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Eveline - 5/4/1997
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Distance: 6.20 Miles
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Eveline - 5/3/1997
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Distance: 6.20 Miles
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Eveline - 5/2/1997
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Distance: 6.20 Miles
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