Hawn Park: Whispering Pine Trail (10 miles) Monday, March 9, 2015

The Scenic Loop on the second loop of the Whispering Pines Trail

Shut ins along Pickle Creek

Just Hiking Ratings:

# of People:  Hawn has become a popular park, but on a weekday in March when the trails were a bit muddy, we saw a total of only two other people and a tiny Yorkie early in our hike along Pickle Creek.  Generally, the longer your hike, the less people you'll see.

The Drive:  This park is only a one hour drive from St. Louis down I55.  Either take a right on Highway O for a short cut to 32 or take I55 all the way to 32. Either way, you'll make a right on 32. Hawn is on your left, just after the railroad tracks.

Surrounding Area:  After your hike, go can go west on 32 past 55 and run into St. Genevieve where there are several small restaurants and shops.

Difficulty:   One of the amazing features of this park is the varied terrain; it ranges from flat to rocky to hilly. Also, if water is high, you'll probably have to take off your hiking boots and socks to cross at least one creek.  Hikes are all loops and lengths vary from one to three to six to ten mile(s).  Relatively new connector trails also allow you to customize some of your hikes and make them shorter or longer.

Other Information:  This is a great park to take dogs because of all the running water!

Pat, Lynnie and Juneau at Pickle Creek shut ins.

Lynnie reprises Franco's role in 127 Hours.

Just an act, of course.

My sister-in-law Lynnie had never been to Hawn Park, so we took advantage of my Spring Break and Pat and Lynnie's seasonal break to hike the ten mile Whispering Pines Trail with their five year old dog Juneau, who made an earlier video appearance on this blog on New Year's Eve 2010, when she was just a year old. We took our time, resting at an overlook to eat apples, bananas and cashews, taking pictures of waterfalls and trees, checking out the back pack camps for (hopefully) future reference.  Although overcast, temps were around 50-55 degrees, perfect hiking weather. Took us about seven hours.

Paul joined us afterwards for hot dogs at the Tic Toc at Magnolia and Arsenal in St. Louis. Juneau was resting in the jeep.