Roosevelt State Park: Civil War Hill Trail et. al. (Blog Hike #1007)

Trails: Muscadine, Civil War Hill, and Rolling Hill Trails
Hike Location: Roosevelt State Park
Geographic Location: Morton, MS (32.32016, -89.67672)
Length: 3.2 miles
Difficulty: 4/10 (Moderate)
Date Hiked: February 2024
Overview: A rolling lollipop loop through pine forest.
Park Information: https://www.mdwfp.com/parks-destinations/state-parks/roosevelt/
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=957132
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video:

Directions to the trailhead: East of Jackson, take I-20 to SR 13 (exit 77).  Exit and go north on SR 13.  Drive SR 13 north 0.7 miles to the park entrance on the left.  Turn left to enter the park, pay the small entrance fee at the gatehouse, and notice the signed start of the Muscadine Trail on the right just past the gatehouse.  Drive another 0.2 miles to the park's lodge, and park in the parking lot in front of the lodge.

The hike: Located in the piney woods just off I-20 between Jackson and Meridian, Roosevelt State Park protects 550 acres centered on 150-acre Shadow Lake.  The park was built in the late 1930's by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and it was one of Mississippi's original state parks.  The park is named after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt; he established the CCC but has no known ties to this area.

            The park has a very developed feel considering its location in the middle of the pine woods.  Those developments include a 20-room motel-style lodge, a 109-site developed campground, 15 cabins, several picnic areas, fishing and boating on Shadow Lake, a swimming pool, some athletic fields, a disc golf course, and 6 hiking trails totaling 4.8 miles.  3 of the trails can be accessed from the park's main day-use area, and combining those 3 trails forms the 3.2 mile lollipop loop described here.

Start of Muscadine Trail

            There are several points where you could enter the trail system, but this hike starts where the Lakeview and Muscadine trails cross the park entrance road near the gatehouse.  To get there from the lodge parking lot, walk back out the park entrance road past the soccer field.  Just before the park's campground road exits right, turn left to begin the Muscadine Trail by walking through a wooden portal.

            Marked with red paint blazes, the wide single-track dirt Muscadine Trail heads north into the woods on a rolling course.  Pine trees dominate this forest, and many of these trees probably date to the CCC era.  0.5 miles into the hike, the park's Old Campground comes close on the left.

Hiking the Muscadine Trail

            Just past the campground, the orange-blazed Rolling Hill Trail exits right.  This intersection marks the start of the loop portion of this hike.  We will use the Rolling Hill Trail as our return route, so for now you want to continue straight on the red-blazed Muscadine Trail, thus hiking the loop clockwise.

Start of Civil War Hill Trail

            In only a couple hundred more feet, you reach another trail intersection.  The Muscadine Trail continues straight to reach Shadow Lake and a park road, but this hike turns right to begin the Civil War Hill Trail, this park's longest trail.  Marked with blue paint blazes, the Civil War Hill Trail takes you on a rolling course through more nice pine forest.  The ranger at the park office told me this trail gets its name from a Civil War military unit that camped here, but I could not find any details.

Shadow Lake

            Near 0.7 miles into the hike, Shadow Lake comes into view through the trees to the left, but the trail never reaches the lake shore.  Instead, the trail curves right and starts going more up than down before dropping into the ravine that contains Line Creek.  I saw 3 deer in this part of the forest, and the pines make for an amazingly quiet and peaceful setting.

Climbing toward the high point

            After climbing out of Line Creek's ravine, you reach the highest elevation on this hike, which is only about 125 feet higher than the trailhead.  More up-and-down through more ravines and more pine forest brings you to an intersection with the Rolling Hill Trail at 2.4 miles.  The Civil War Trail ends here.  The park entrance road in sight to the left would give you a shorter route back to the trailhead, but this hike turns right to begin the Rolling Hill Trail.

End of Rolling Hill Trail

            Marked with gold/orange blazes, the Rolling Hill Trail goes more down than up as it passes through one final ravine.  At 2.7 miles, you reach the north end of the Rolling Hill Trail and close the loop.  Turn left to retrace your steps on the Muscadine Trail, then turn right on the park entrance road to return to the lodge parking lot and complete the hike.

Logoly State Park (Blog Hike #1006)

Trails: Crane's Fly, Magnesia Springs, and Spring Branch Trails
Hike Location: Logoly State Park
Geographic Location: northeast of Magnolia, AR (33.34733, -93.18402)
Length: 1.9 miles
Difficulty: 2/10 (Easy)
Date Hiked: February 2024
Overview: A round-the-park loop passing a large pond and Magnesia Springs.
Park Information: https://www.arkansasstateparks.com/parks/logoly-state-park
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=957058
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video:

Directions to the trailhead: From the intersection of US 82 and US 79 on the northeast side of Magnolia, take US 79 north 3.5 miles to CR 47 and turn right on CR 47.  Drive CR 47 east less than 1 mile to the signed park entrance on the left.  Turn left to enter the park, and park in the perpendicular parking lot in front of the playground and Visitor Center.

The hike: Consisting of 368 rolling acres in the coastal plains east of Texarkana, Logoly State Park (pronounced like LAW-go-lie) was the first environmental education state park in Arkansas.  The park gets its name from 3 families who used to own this land: the Longinos, the Goodes, and the Lyles.  Those families owned the land in 1940, when the Boy Scouts of America leased the land to create Camp Logoly.  The camp closed in 1967.  In 1974, the former camp was purchased by The Nature Conservancy and transferred to the State of Arkansas to create the park we visit today.

            True to its primitive camp history, the park has few amenities.  On point, Logoly State Park offers only a small group camping area, some picnic areas, a playground, and 3 fairly easy hiking trails.  The 3 trails offer quite different scenery, and this hike combines parts of all 3 trails to create a round-the-park journey.

Trailhead near Visitor Center

            From the main parking area, head east to walk past the playground to the Visitor Center, and stop in the Visitor Center to view the exhibits and pick up a trail map.  Next continue east to start the Crane's Fly Trail, which begins at a large colorful sign.  Named for a type of orchid, the Crane's Fly Trail descends slightly before it splits to form its loop around the park's pond.  Turn right to begin a counterclockwise journey around the pond.

View down park's pond

            At 0.25 miles, you reach a short boardwalk that gives nice views down the length of the pond.  The tall pine trees reflect nicely in the pond, making for a tranquil setting.  Next the trail meanders and undulates slightly as it explores the small streams that feed the pond.  Just past 0.5 miles, you reach a trail intersection.  The Spring Branch Trail exits right here, but you want to angle left to keep following the Crane's Fly Trail.

            After tracing the pond's east shore, you reach another trail intersection near the pond's dam.  The Crane's Fly Trail turns left here to cross the dam and quickly close its loop, and you could go that way if you wanted a short and easy hike.  To see more of the park's trails, turn right to begin the Magnesia Springs Trail.

Hiking the Magnesia Springs Trail

            0.8 miles into the hike, you reach this trail's namesake Magnesia Springs.  In the early 1900s these springs emitted a constant flow of clear water, and the concrete catchment you can stand in today would have been knee-deep with water.  Unfortunately, due to both natural and man-made reasons, water tables in this area have lowered; today the springs are more or less dry.  Take some time to imagine what this area might have been like when the springs were flowing.

Magnesia Springs catchment

            Past the springs, the Magnesia Springs Trail climbs gradually on a wide two-track path that looks like an old road.  At 0.9 miles, you reach the east end of the Magnesia Springs Trail where it intersects the Spring Branch Trail.  Turn left to begin the Spring Branch Trail, which is this park's longest trail.

Spring Branch

            The Spring Branch Trail follows the ridge at first, but soon it descends to pass under a high voltage power line and cross its namesake stream on a wooden footbridge.  Some big pine trees live here, and I did some nice wildlife viewing in this part of the park.  The trail curves left and starts heading back uphill.  Some unofficial trails also curve around this area, so you want to watch for the white paint blazes that mark the Spring Branch Trail.

View from observation and photo blind

            After passing back under the high voltage power line, you reach a wooden observation and photo blind.  The power line corridor should be a good place to spot birds and other wildlife, but nothing was visible on the late afternoon that I came here.  Continuing past the blind returns you to pavement at 1.8 miles, and a short road walk brings you back to the parking area to complete the hike.