Not the best weather forecast for my days off. Still, I wanted to get out for a hike. I decided to take Rosie out to Guernsey State Park to hike some trails I've noticed, but can't find much information about: The Red Cliff Trail and the Red Cloud Trail.
After a couple of stops in Torrington for gas and the Bread Doctor, we arrived in the park and parked near the dam for the start of the Red Cliff Trail.
The trail starts along the spillway for the dam, heads into a wooded area and soon reaches a junction with a trail that leads to the museum.
At this point I wanted to continue on the Red Cliff Trail, but it was rerouted to a detour.
I found the detour to be confusing (in retrospect I think I just needed to follow the small flags that had been placed) and so ended up following a road past a small decrepit building,
what I think are the stables that were built by the CCC,
and an area where the park seems to dump old picnic tables and other stuff. Soon, a set of stairs descended to what was labeled as "Round Top Mtn" Trail. I followed this trail through pleasant prairie scenery.
This trail intersected with a two-track road.
There was no sign indicating which way the trail continued and so I followed the road for a bit, passing early-blooming wildflowers
and scattered chunks of chert.
At a point where the trail appeared to peter out, I turned around to head back in the opposite direction. I passed the junction with the trail I had followed and took this road to another road that ascended a small mountain, what I suspect is Round Top Mountain. Rosie and I followed the road up the mountain.
There were great views down to the reservoir.
The summit area was relatively flat. There was a solitary picnic table there and more great views.
After a very brief stop on the summit, we started to make our way back down. About 2/3 of the way down I noticed a trail that left the road and so we followed it to the CCC Museum. From there we took another trail to the lower parking area, followed a gravel road for a bit and then traveled cross-country to our original trail. Here, I decided to hike through the closure to see what we had missed. We followed the Red Cliff Trail down into a ravine where a large tree had fallen (probably the reason for the closure), ascended the other side and followed the cliff above the free-flowing North Platte River below the dam. The views from there were awesome!
We even caught a view of a large group of pelicans soaring in the air above the reservoir
and scared a juvenile bald eagle off its perch on a power pole. Then we returned to the car.
Next, I decided we would figure out where the Red Cloud Trail goes. I parked just off the road and Rosie and I started hiking.
It turns out the Red Cloud Trail doesn't go very far. It led maybe 1/4 mile through a ravine
and up to a gravel road. I'm guessing it's just a way for the cabin owners who have summer homes along the gravel road to be able to walk down to the water.
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