ABOUT THE PARK:
Castlewood State Park - Missouri Department of Natural Resources
DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 38.552409, -90.542942
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| First parking lot next to the park office. There are more parking lots farther in. |
TRAIL MAP:
Park Trails at Castlewood State Park - Missouri Department of Natural Resources
This photo of Castlewood State Park is courtesy of TripAdvisor
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HIKE DISTANCE: 8.8 miles
THE HIKE:
My very first hike was in this park - 35 years ago.
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| At the kiosk at the far end of the parking lot, we took the blue Grotpeter Trail to the right. |
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| Kiefer Creek on the left. |
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| Crossing Kiefer Creek Road |
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| Crossing Ries Road. |
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| Carolina Wren |
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| Brodie notices something up ahead. |
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| We waited. She would not move. We inched forward and she flicked her tail up and started stomping her front hooves. So we bushwhacked off trail to the left around her. |
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| Turns out she would not run because she was worried about the deer to our left. We moved through at a respectful distance and all was well. |
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| Now what has Brodie found? |
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| Can't blame him for hiding from Brodie when Brodie has turtle soup on his mind. |
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| When blue comes out on Kiefer Creek Road ... |
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| ... left across the bridge then right to ... |
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| ... the yellow-blazed Lone Wolf Trail. |
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| Views of the Meramec River from the top. |
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| We then went left on yellow/red for more views. |
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| Red ends up back on Kiefer Creek Road where it turns right ... |
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| ... goes under the bridge ... |
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| ... then left into the woods. |
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| Now the trail follows along the Meramec River with many side trails down to the river bank. |
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| A white-throated sparrow and a cardinal eating berries. |
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| The red trail goes under the railroad tracks ... |
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| ... then up endless flights of steps. |
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| Views near the top. |
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| Left on yellow. |
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| Back to the blue Grotpeter Trail ... |
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| ... to the parking lot. |
