Pike Lake State Park: Greenbrier/CCC/Lake Double Loop (Blog Hike #916)

Trails: Greenbrier, CCC, and Lake Trails
Hike Location: Pike Lake State Park
Geographic Location: west of Piketon, OH (39.16063, -83.22211)
Length: 1.8 miles
Difficulty: 4/10 (Moderate)
Date Hiked: October 2022
Overview: A double loop on seldom-used trails exploring the hollows around Pike Lake.
Park Information: https://ohiodnr.gov/go-and-do/plan-a-visit/find-a-property/pike-lake-state-park
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=924544
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: 

Directions to the trailhead: From Piketon, drive SR 124 west 7 miles to Morgans Fork Road, a narrow paved road, and turn right on Morgans Fork Rd.  In 4 miles, where the road forks, bear left onto Pike Lake Road.  The park is 2 miles ahead.  Park in the parking lot on the left side of the road across from the lake.

The hike: For my introduction to Pike Lake State Park, see my hike on the Mitchell Ridge Trail, which is this park's hardest trail.  The hike described here uses some lesser-used trails as it explores the hollows around Pike Lake.  While this hike does not have a lot of elevation gain, the primitive trails make the difficulty higher than you might expect for a hike of this type.

Trailhead for Greenbrier Trail

            Start by picking up the Greenbrier Trail, which heads west from a signed trailhead across the road from the Nature Center.  Note that this trail used to start several hundred feet south of here near the park's amphitheater, but the trailhead was relocated a few years ago.  Marked with green paint blazes, the seldom-used trail heads uphill through dense broadleaf forest.  The thick layer of leaf-litter combined with the trail's uneven surface made my going slow, but careful stepping got me through this hike without any twisted ankles or significant injuries.

            The trail climbs about 100 vertical feet but never approaches the top of the hill before descending back into the hollow.  At 0.4 miles, you reach the west end of the Greenbrier Trail at its intersection with Egypt Hollow Road, a lightly used but paved road.  To continue this loop, turn left and walk along the road a few hundred feet to the signed trailhead for the CCC Trail, which appears on the right.  Turn right to head back into the woods on the CCC Trail.

Start of CCC Trail

            Marked with yellow paint blazes, the CCC Trail stays within a few hundred feet of the road as it heads downstream toward the mouth of Egypt Hollow.  This trail is also seldom-used, and the leaf-litter forced the same careful stepping here as on the first part of this hike.  A couple of narrow wooden bridges may look suspicious, but they got me across the dry rocky creek without incident.

Final bridge on CCC Trail

            At 0.8 miles, you cross a final bridge to reach the east end of the CCC Trail at Egypt Hollow Road near the #10 tee of this park's disc golf course, which I have reviewed in my Disc Golf Reviews.  Turn right and walk the road back out to the main park road.  Your car is a couple hundred feet to the left here, so this point marks the end of the first of this hike's two loops.  To start the second loop, continue east and walk across the dam that forms Pike Lake.  Great views of the lake and its surrounding hills can be had here, and some benches make perfect places to rest and admire the scenery near the midpoint of this hike.

Crossing Pike Lake's dam

            At the east end of the dam, you reach a major trail intersection.  The aforementioned red-blazed Mitchell Ridge Trail heads up its namesake hill, but this hike turns left to begin the Lake Trail, which is marked with blue paint blazes.  True to its name, the narrow Lake Trail follows the east shore of Pike Lake.  A narrow and intricate collection of wooden steps and boardwalks make the hiking more interesting, and a couple of downed trees needed to be negotiated on my visit.  The downed trees are noteworthy because the trail maintenance on the rest of this hike was quite good.

Hiking the Lake Trail

            A sand beach and picnic shelter located on an island come into view on the left, but you have to hike all of the way out to the park road to find a route across the creek.  Upon reaching the park road, turn left to walk the road back to the main parking area.  A final roadside view eastward across the lake concludes the hike.