Yankee Springs Recreation Area: Hall Lake Trail and Devil's Soup Bowl (Blog Hike #970)

Trails: Hall Lake Trail and spur trails
Hike Location: Yankee Springs Recreation Area
Geographic Location: west of Hastings, MI (42.61306, -85.49046)
Length: 2.5 miles
Difficulty: 4/10 (Moderate)
Date Hiked: October 2023
Overview: A semiloop featuring Hall Lake and 2 overgrown overlooks.
Park Information: https://www.michigan.gov/recsearch/parks/YankeeSprings
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=949092
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: 

Directions to the trailhead: Between Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids, take US 131 to SR 179 (exit 61).  Exit and go east on SR 179.  Drive SR 179 east 7.6 miles to Briggs Road and turn right on Briggs Rd.  Briggs Rd. becomes Gun Lake Road in 1 mile.  Drive a total of 2.2 miles from SR 179 to the entrance for the Long Lake Outdoor Center on your left.  Turn left, then immediately park in the dirt parking lot for the Hall Lake Trailhead on either side of the road.

The hike: Located between Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids in southwest Michigan, Yankee Springs Recreation Area consists of 5200 acres of reverting farmland.  Most of this land was opened up to homesteading in the 1830's, and 100 years of farming depleted the soil and left much erosion.  In the 1930's, the federal government bought the land, and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked here to reforest the worn out farm fields and build park infrastructure such as roads and trails.  The land was turned over to the State of Michigan in 1943 and added to its state park system.

            The area today features many amenities including a 200-site developed campground, 120 primitive campsites, fishing, boating, and swimming on 2680-acre Gun Lake, bridle trails, mountain bike trails, and 30 miles of trails open to hiking.  The route described here takes you to Hall Lake, one of the park's many scenic lakes, and tours some of the park's most famous geological sites, thus allowing you to sample the best scenery this park has to offer.

Start of Hall Lake Trail

            From the trailhead parking area, start on the trail that goes east directly away from the park entrance road.  A sign states "Hall Lake Foot Trail, Foot Traffic Only."  Marked with red blazes, the Hall Lake Trail is a wide single-track sandy dirt trail; it forms a loop that you are hiking counterclockwise when going this direction.  This part of the forest is dominated by young maple trees, and this part of the hike was very pleasant when I came here on a damp and chilly Sunday afternoon in mid-October.

Trail intersection near Hall Lake

            After descending imperceptibly for 0.4 miles, you reach the shore of Hall Lake and a trail intersection.  The North Country Trail, a 4800 mile backpacking trail that stretches from Vermont to North Dakota, enters from the right here.  To continue the Hall Lake Trail, turn left to start hiking north with Hall Lake on your right.  Whereas maple trees dominated the higher forest, pine trees dominate the area near the lake.  Some nice views of the lake emerge.  The red blazes of the Hall Lake Trail and the powder blue blazes of the North Country Trail run conjointly here.

Hall Lake

            Where the North Country Trail exits left, angle right to stay on the Hall Lake Trail.  At 0.6 miles, the trail curves north to exit the lake area and begin the hardest climb of this hike.  The elevation gain on this hike is only about 200 feet, so the moderate climb is over rather quickly.  Just shy of 1 mile, you reach another trail intersection.  The Hall Lake Trail turns left here, and we will go that way eventually.  To also see some of this park's geological points of interest, continue straight to begin hiking an unblazed connector trail.

Graves Hill "overlook"

            Only a few feet later, angle left to hike the short spur trail to the Graves Hill Overlook.  While there is a hill and an unusual-shaped rock up here, this "overlook" is completely overgrown and offers absolutely no view.  Back on the connector trail, continue north, following signs for Devil's Soup Bowl.  The connector trail descends slightly, passes a jeep trail parking lot, and climbs slightly through steeper terrain than you have encountered thus far.

Devil's Soup Bowl Overlook

            At 1.25 miles, you reach the Devil's Soup Bowl overlook.  Like the previous overlook, there is not much of an "overlook" here, but you are standing on the rim of Devil's Soup Bowl.  Devil's Soup Bowl is a steep-sided depression that is almost 100 feet deep; no creeks flow into or out of the depression.  A wild trail going left leads steeply to the bottom of the depression, and the Deep Lake Trail heads right to its namesake lake.

Peering into Devil's Soup Bowl

            After viewing Devil's Soup Bowl, retrace your steps back to the Hall Lake Trail and turn right to begin the final segment of this hike.  The trail descends moderately as dirt Graves Hill Road comes in view on the right.  Ignore trails that exit first left and then right, and stay on the red-blazed Hall Lake Trail.  After passing a wetland area, you cross one final low ridge before closing the loop.  A right turn quickly returns you to the parking area to complete the hike.

Big Bone Lick State Historic Site: Cedar Run/Big Bone Creek Double Loop (Blog Hike #969)

Trails: Gobbler's Trace, Cedar Run, Bison Trace, and Big Bone Creek Trails
Hike Location: Big Bone Lick State Historic Site
Geographic Location: southwest of Union, KY (38.88424, -84.75212)
Length: 2.7 miles
Difficulty: 5/10 (Moderate)
Date Hiked: October 2023
Overview: A double loop passing the park's bison pen and fossilized bone dig site.
Park Information: https://parks.ky.gov/union/parks/historic/big-bone-lick-state-historic-site
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=948925
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video:

Directions to the trailhead: In northern Kentucky, take I-75 to SR 338 (exit 175).  Exit and go west on SR 338.  Drive SR 338 west 7 miles to the park entrance on the left.  Turn left to enter the park, then turn right at the first intersection.  Park in the blacktop lot in front of the park's Museum/Visitor Center.

The hike: I first drove into Big Bone Lick State Historic Site in August 2000 when I worked in Fort Mitchell, KY a few miles to the north.  I came here after work one humid summer evening, and I only hiked the Coralberry Trail around this park's lake, never bothering to visit this park's famous mammoth and mastodon fossil dig site.  Likewise when I returned here to take some photos on a 100+ degree day in 2012, I confined myself to the trail I had hiked several years earlier.  Finally, as the first stop on my October 2023 hiking trip to Michigan and Ohio, I did a hike through the main part of the park on my third visit to Big Bone Lick.

            The fossil dig site that eluded my presence for so long has been an important site for centuries.  Before European settlers arrived, the Shawnee lived here, and Mary Draper Ingles was held hostage here before her daring escape back to Virginia.  Daniel Boone came here in 1770, and future President William Henry Harrison came here to collect fossils in 1795.  Meriwether Lewis of Lewis and Clark fame dug for fossils here in 1803, and the park today is a stop on the Lewis and Clark Heritage Trail.

            Despite the site's impressive history, Big Bone Lick State Historic Site dates only to 1960.  The park offers a fantastic Visitor Center, which features fossil and art exhibits, a 62-site developed campground, and several hiking trails.  My earlier hike on the park's Coralberry Trail is described elsewhere in this Trail Journal, and this hike focuses on the trails that start at the Visitor Center, including the trails through the famous dig site and around the almost as famous bison pen.

Trailhead across from Visitor Center

            To take the long route to the bison pen and save the dig site for last, start across the parking lot from the Visitor Center and pick up the Gobbler's Trace as it heads southeast, going steeply uphill.  The Gobbler's Trace is the main trail connecting the park's Visitor Center and campground; it is well-trodden and marked with blue rectangular paint blazes.  Some wooden steps make the climb easier, but this is a steep ridge.  Oak and black walnut trees dominate the forest on the lower parts of the ridge.

Climbing the ridge

            After gaining almost 150 feet of elevation, you reach the ridgetop, and the trail flattens out.  Ignore (for now) the red-blazed Cedar Run Trail, which descends to the right, and stay on the blue-blazed Gobbler's Trace as it stays near the top of the narrow finger ridge.  Large numbers of red cedar trees and honeysuckle bushes grow up here, and the young forest allows a lot of light to reach the forest floor.

Trail intersection near park boundary

            At 0.55 miles, you reach a trail intersection with the park's east boundary straight ahead.  The Gobbler's Trace turns left here to continue its journey toward the campground, but you want to turn right to continue our first loop on the red-blazed Cedar Run Trail.  The Cedar Run Trail heads south with the park boundary on your left.  Some sections of this trail have been rerouted due to erosion problems, but the reroutes are well-signed and well-blazed.

Hiking the Cedar Run Trail

            The Cedar Run Trail uses a winding course that goes more downhill than uphill.  You may wonder whether this trail is taking you any direction in particular, but have some faith and keep following the red blazes.  At 1.4 miles, you reach another trail intersection.  The Cedar Run Trail continues straight to close its loop with the Gobbler's Trace, but you want to turn left on an unblazed spur trail marked "bison."

Spur trail to bison pen

            As the sign foretold, a moderate descent brings you to the bison pen at 1.5 miles.  Turn right to walk with the wire-fence pen to your left, and keep an eye out for the park's bison herd.  When I came here on a seasonally warm day in mid-October, most of the herd was laying in the shade, but I did see several bison here.  Take some time to admire these large scruffy animals.

Bison in bison pen

Bison pen

            After viewing the bison, walk the asphalt trail back to the parking lot to complete the first loop.  Next walk behind the Visitor Center to reach the viewing platform for the fossil dig site.  Statues of  mammoths, mastodons, and bones have been constructed to mark the area, and many interpretive signs describe the animals, fossils, and people who dug here.  Take some time to read the signs to appreciate the history of this site.

Fossil dig site

            Past the dig site, continue downhill and angle right to begin heading counterclockwise around the Big Bone Creek Trail's loop.  Soon you pass a couple of salt springs.  These springs are one reason so many large fossils were found in this area, and they still draw wildlife looking to replenish their body's salt today.  More interpretive signs describe the animals that frequent these springs.

Salt spring

            The rest of the Big Bone Creek Trail follows a nearly flat loop on mostly asphalt trail.  At 2.6 miles, you close the loop.  Turn right to walk back uphill past the Visitor Center to the parking lot to complete the hike.