Pleasantly Surprised with Lone Wolf Trail in Castlewood State Park
#lonewolftrail #castlewoodstatepark #missouristateparks
I get out early and hike Lone Wolf Trail in Castlewood State Park. At 2.1 miles Lone Wolf is the shortest trail I’ve hiked at Castlewood, and while I was skeptical at first by the end I was won over and wishing it was longer. One again, Castlewood did not disappoint.
AllTrails Stats
Lone Wolf Trail | Castlewood State Park
Type: Loop | Rate: Moderate | Traffic: Heavy
Length: 1.7mi | Elevation Gain: 223ft
If you go clockwise like AllTrails suggests you do a short quick climb to the River Scene cliffs thens it’s pretty much all down hill from there. Counterclockwise will give you a longer more gradual climb.
Hiking the trail clockwise takes you immediately to the bluffs overlooking the Meramec River, decidedly the best views of the hike. At this point the Lone Wolf and River Scene trails essentially are one in the same. Lone Wolf has Yellow trail markers while River Scene has Red. I stuck to the Yellow markers, but I would recommend keeping to the bluffs for the first half mile because they offer the best views. About .5 miles in you’ll reach a point where the trails merge then diverge with Lone Wolf forking to the right. It’s marked pretty clearly by the letter A emergency marker.
Now you’re on the main portion of Lone Wolf Trail. It’s a very easy gradual decent down to a lovely creek and the valley basin of the park. There are some scenic parts of the trail with some pretty switchbacks, but at barely 2 miles there isn’t really an opportunity for too much more. It being December in Missouri I was lucky enough to come across more frost flowers like I encountered on the River Scene Trail.
Head to my Instagram @mshepjordan9 to see more photos from this hike!
I’ll admit I started off on this hike a little judgemental, but by the end I was pleasantly surprised. This is a short easy hike that offers a preview of all the highlights of Castlewood State Park. Very worth it if you’re looking to go on a quick adventure in one of Missouri’s busiest state parks.
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