McGee Creek State Park: South Rim/Little Bugaboo Loop (Blog Hike #1114)

Trails: South Rim and Little Bugaboo Trails
Hike Location: McGee Creek State Park
Geographic Location: east of Atoka, OK (34.38897, -95.82541)
Length: 3.8 miles
Difficulty: 5/10 (Moderate)
Date Hiked: February 2026
Overview: A remote lollipop loop through semi-wilderness pine woods.
Park Information: https://www.travelok.com/state-parks/mcgee-creek-state-park
Hike Route Map:

On The Go Map

Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: (coming March 12, 2027)

Directions to the trailhead: From Atoka, take SR 3 east 20.8 miles to Centerpoint Road; a sign for the state park marks this intersection.  Turn left on Centerpoint Road, which alternates between an asphalt and gravel road surface before dead ending at the park in 10 miles.  Park near the ranger station, where you must fill out a free user permit before hitting the trail.

The hike: Consisting of 2600 acres in rural south-central Oklahoma, McGee Creek State Park is kind of 2 parks wrapped into 1.  The park's west side is a typical developed park by a lake with an 87-site developed campground, the usual aquatic recreation, and some picnic areas.  The park's east side, which is officially called McGee Creek Natural Scenic Recreation Area, has no amenities and is managed as a semi-wilderness area.  The 2 sides are separated by McGee Creek Reservoir, a 3810-acre lake built in 1987 for flood control.

            For hikers, the park's west side offers only 1 short nature trail.  Thus, although hikers might camp on the park's developed west side, at some point most hikers will make their way to the park's natural east side, which offers over 25 miles of trails.  The hike described here is in some sense the shortest and easiest meaningful loop in McGee Creek Natural Scenic Recreation Area.  This hike passes some nice scenery, but its real selling point is its solitude: as best I could tell, I was the only person in the entire natural area when I came here on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon in late February.

South Rim Trail trailhead at ranger station

            After filling out the permit form at the ranger station, pick up the South Rim Trail as it heads north into the woods; several interpretive signs and a brown metal trail sign mark the trailhead.  True to its management status as a semi-wilderness, trails in the natural area are unmarked except at intersections.  I took a photo of the trail map at the ranger station, but I had no serious trouble following the trails on this hike.

Intersecting the Little Bugaboo Trail

            The wide dirt trail winds its way gradually downhill through thick forest dominated by pine trees.  At 0.4 miles, you reach the signed trail intersection that forms the loop portion of this hike.  This hike turns left to begin the Little Bugaboo Trail while using the South Rim Trail that continues straight as a return route, thus hiking the loop clockwise.

Crossing Little Bugaboo Creek

            Ignore the West Branch Trail where it exits left; it leads to some primitive campsites in the western part of the natural area.  Just shy of 0.7 miles, you reach the first of 3 unbridged creek crossings, this one of Little Bugaboo Creek.  All 3 of these creek crossings could be rock-hopped when I came here, but they could require wading or even be impassible with more water.  Use good judgment about if and when to cross.

Cairn beside narrow trail

            Now on the west side of Little Bugaboo Creek, the trail winds its way uphill on a gradual to moderate grade with the crest of the hill uphill to the left.  This section of trail is the narrowest trail on this hike, and some piles of stones or cairns help you stay on track where the trail gets faint.  While I did not do great bird watching here, I did see several red-winged blackbirds on this part of the hike.

Hiking beside Little Bugaboo Creek

            After 0.5 miles of gradual climbing, the trail levels out and adopts a sidehill course to return alongside Little Bugaboo Creek on the right.  The pine forest is less dense here, and a thick layer of grass permeates the understory.  2 miles into the hike, you pass a primitive campsite just before reaching an intersection with the South Rim Trail.  More brown metal signs mark this intersection.  The trails going straight and left lead deeper into the natural area.  Turn right on the South Rim Trail to begin your journey back to the ranger station.

Returning on the South Rim Trail

            The South Rim Trail crosses Little Bugaboo Creek for your second unbridged creek crossing before climbing slightly to reach the highest elevation of this hike.  The difference between highest and lowest elevations is only 170 feet, so all elevation changes are relatively gradual.  Thus, the primitive unmarked nature of the trails is the main challenge on this hike.  The South Rim Trail is less challenging in that regard: it has the feel of a two-track old dirt road.

Hiking along the boundary

            At 2.5 miles, the Boundary Trail briefly joins from the left; it offers an alternate route back to the ranger station.  I chose to turn right and stay with the South Rim Trail, thus staying in the deeper more scenic forest further from the park's east boundary.  At 3.15 miles, the trail dips to cross Bog Spring Branch for the 3rd and final unbridged creek crossing.  A gradual climb closes the loop at 3.4 miles, and continuing the gradual climb returns you to the ranger station at 3.8 miles.

Cleburne State Park: Spillway Trail (Blog Hike #1113)

Trail: Spillway Trail 
Hike Location: Cleburne State Park
Geographic Location: southwest of Cleburne, TX (32.25650, -97.55269)
Length: 1.8 miles
Difficulty: 5/10 (Moderate)
Date Hiked: February 2026
Overview: An out-and-back past a hand-carved spillway to an overlook of Cedar Lake.
Park Information: https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/cleburne
Hike Route Map:

On The Go Map

Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: (coming February 26, 2027)

Directions to the trailhead: From Cleburne, take US 67 west 7.4 miles to Park Road 21 and turn left on Park Road 21.  Drive Park Road 21 southwest 6.2 miles to the signed park entrance on the right.  Turn right to enter the park, pay the entrance fee, and park in the small gravel parking area on the left just past the first restroom building.

The hike: Many things change over the course of a century.  For example, consider the case of Cleburne State Park and Cleburne, Texas.  When this park was formed in 1934, Cleburne was a small rural town of about 11,000 people, and its economy was mainly driven by local agriculture and some major railroad hubs.  The dust bowl and the Great Depression had taken their tolls on both aspects of Cleburne's economy, so area residents donated land to form a state park so that the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) would bring jobs to the area while building the park.

            Today Cleburne sits on the southwest fringe of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, and it is experiencing rapid growth due to the Metroplex's expansion.  Cleburne State Park has become a major center of recreation, and it offers boating, fishing, and swimming on Cedar Lake, a 58-site developed campground, a primitive group camp, several picnic areas, and 11 hiking trails, most of which are less than 1 mile long.  This hike features the Spillway Trail.  While not the longest trail in the park, the Spillway Trail features this park's famous CCC-built hand-carved spillway and leads to a nice overlook over Cedar Lake.

Carsonite post marking the trailhead

            A brown carsonite post at the north side of the parking lot marks the start of the Spillway Trail.  The single-track dirt trail heads north before angling right to cross the main park road and enter the dense juniper and oak forest.  Such forest is typical of the cross timbers region of north Texas and east-central Oklahoma.  West Fork of Camp Creek, the main outflow of Cedar Lake, soon comes into view on the right.  A couple of the creek's steep-banked tributaries are crossed as the trail continues north.

Hiking through the cross timbers

            At 0.25 miles, you enter the spillway area and reach a major trail intersection.  The option going left leads to a secondary parking area, while the option continuing straight leads to the park's mountain bike trails.  Thus, you want to turn right to cross the West Fork of Camp Creek on a wooden footbridge.  As you cross the creek, notice how steep and chiseled the sides of this water channel are, a testament to the power of eroding water.

Creek in the spillway

            Next the trail climbs away from the creek, and at the next intersection you need to turn left to stay on the Spillway Trail.  Look for tan arrows on brown carsonite posts to mark the way.  The grades on this trail are not particularly steep or long, but the eroded and rocky treadway will make the going slower and harder than you might like.  That treadway is the main reason I rank the difficulty of this hike as moderate; otherwise it would be easy.

Climbing out of the spillway

            At 0.5 miles, you reach the main overlook for Cedar Lake's dam and spillway.  The terraces cut in the rock are what make this spillway famous: they were hand-carved by the CCC.  The terraces look like the famous Serpentine Wall in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, but that wall is made out of concrete.  This overlook is about 50 feet above the spillway with no railing for safety, so be careful where you step as you try to get a good view and photograph of the spillway.

Cedar Lake dam and spillway

            After heading upstream past the dam, the trail dips and then rises as it curves right to head away from the lake.  There are several narrow unofficial trails in this area, but the official Spillway Trail is wide and easy to follow.  At 0.7 miles, the Limestone Ridge Trail, which is primarily a mountain bike trail, exits right.  Turn left to stay on the Spillway Trail.

Hiking the Spillway Trail

Cedar Lake overlook

            The Spillway Trail dips through a rocky ravine as it stays close to the park's east boundary on the right.  0.8 miles into the hike, you reach the north end of the Spillway Trail.  For a nice view of the lake, turn left and make a short moderate descent to reach a lakeside overlook at 0.9 miles.  The clear blue lake waters contrasted nicely with the green and brown cross timbers forest and matched the sky perfectly on my visit.  If you have more time, you can continue north on the Coyote Run Trail toward the campground, but I faced a long drive to Oklahoma City that afternoon.  Therefore, I turned around at the lake overlook and retraced my steps to the trailhead, thus completing the hike.