Thursday, February 1 – This morning here at Seminole Canyon, we had a gorgeous sunrise with a special appearance of the moon.
Today's plan calls for a hike on one of the several trails in Seminole Canyon State Park, Texas. There are seven trials in the park. We did the guided Fate Bell Shelter Pictograph trail yesterday. Our plan today is to do parts of several trails combined into a circular route.
We began on the Rio Grande Trail for .45 of a mile and connected to the popular Canyon Rim Trail.
Rio Grande Trail. Sign in the back says…Beware of snakes…yikes!
Pretty easy going so far.
This Canyon Rim Trail traverses the rim of Seminole Canyon and the Rio Grande corridor. It is labeled as Challenging. It really isn’t. The surface is rugged which makes hiking a little troublesome. The trail gave us many opportunities to view the canyon floor more than 200 feet below. Don't get mesmerized by the scenery or clumsy on the loose stones or you may end up at the bottom of the canyon!
Many times we were hiking right along the edge of the Canyon.
Bridge to the Past. 
Had to watch our step.
We branched off temporarily on the Presa Overlook Trial which ends at a beautiful overlook into Presa and Seminole Canyon. We stopped nearby for a short break and to reenergize ourselves with a little snack from our backpacks.
We continued down the Canyon Rim Trail for a short distance before connecting to the Presa Trail which cuts away from the canyon onto higher ground. We followed this old ranch road about a mile before connection to Middle Fork Trail.
Presa Trail. Not nearly as rugged as Canyon Rim. Difficulty: Moderate. We say easy.
Middle Fork Trail. Listed as moderate. Again, we say easy.
The last part of the trail was reconnecting to the Rio Grande Trail which we followed back to the trailhead. We covered about five miles which was enough since it's been awhile since we hiked that far. We'll tackle another trail in the next couple days, so come back and follow along.
Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day.
Oh yeah ... I remember those trails. We went all the way to the Rio Grande, but boy were we dragging by the time we got back to the campground.
ReplyDeleteThe Rim Trail is one we used to ride with mountain bikes about 40 years ago. It was legal and fun then.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful and rugged country!
ReplyDeleteWe really liked the canyon rim trail. Did you see the pictographs on the other side of the canyon?
ReplyDeleteYou think those trails are easy only because you hike so much. Those rankings are for us regular people. :)
ReplyDeleteLooks like wonderful hiking weather, especially if Paul needed to wear jeans. I'd rather hike in the cool. I asked once at a NP Visitor Center about the trail rating because we disagreed with them. The ranger said the NPs rate the trails for the average person that just pulls up, gets out, and starts to hike, never having done it before. Makes sense once you hike and see the ratings. Great job on the route! Good to see Paul's new knee is hiking right along:) Love your sunrise!!
ReplyDeleteLooks like the type of hike we would look for.
ReplyDeleteYou might be stiff in the morning if you haven't done any hiking in a while.
Be Safe and Enjoy!
It's about time.
The trail ratings are always so random! Thanks for your more realistic ratings. :-) I like parks where there are a variety of trails and the opportunity for linking trails to make longer hikes. Those are some pretty views down into the canyon.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fun hike and some interesting scenery.
ReplyDeleteYou look so very alone out there!! Where's everyone else?
ReplyDeleteI loved this hike. . .thanks for taking us along.
ReplyDeleteWow, those are some awesome views from the trails. It sounds like you are enjoying the area.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the trail ratings can be random. We have hiked in areas where a moderately rated trail was strenuous to us, then the reverse held true in another area. We have not yet explored this part of our country. Looks like an interesting hike. LuAnn
ReplyDelete