Forging Streams on Whispering Pines North Loop Trail
#whisperingpinestrail #hawnstatepark #missourihiking
I closed out 2020 the best way I knew how, with an amazing 13 mile New Years Eve hike on the Whispering Pines Trail in Hawn State Park. It was a chilly day (mid to upper 20s), but that meant that I had the trail basically to myself until midmorning. Those cold temps and the rain from the night before weren’t my favorite when I had to take my shoes off, roll up my pants, and forge Pickle Creek in the first half of the Whispering Pines North Loop Trail.
AllTrails Stats
Whispering Pines Trail (North & South Loops)
Hawn State Park | Missouri
Type: Loop | Rate: Difficult | Traffic: Heavy
Length: 12.4mi | Elevation Gain: 1,322ft
The full trail is divided into two half. If you’d like to just hike the top portion (North Loop) you can. North Loop by itself is 6.3mi.
The video above is Part I of my Whispering Pines hike and features the first half of the North Loop (hiking counterclockwise), which definitely has the best views on the entire trail. My favorite section of the trail, however, was on the second half of the North Loop which features a series of little lovely waterfalls down Pickle Creek.
The first half of the North Loop has two designated crossings of Pickle Creek which runs through the park. Trail signs clearly mark the crossings and on a normal day you should be able to rock hop across while staying dry. Unfortunately for me, the day before I visited the park it rained a decent amount so the creek was high enough to cover the crossings. I was able to find a dry path through the first crossing, but at the second I opted to take off my Nike Wildhorse 6 and wade barefoot through the water.
Head to my Instagram @mshepjordan9 to see more photos from this hike!
A great feature of the Whispering Pines Trail in Hawn State Park is that you can only hike the North Loop which is a 6.3mi hike. Tbh this part of the whole trail is best of the entire 12.4mi loop. My two favorite sections of the hike are both on the North Loop: walking through the whispering pines after reaching the highest elevation point, and the lovely series of waterfalls towards the end of the North Loop. If you happen to be camping in the RV park, these waterfalls are just a short hike up the Whispering Pines Trail heading left.
What to Watch Next on YouTube
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