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The Tree Trail at Beaver’s Bend State Park is 1.2 loop trail near Broken Bow, Oklahoma is considered a leisurely stroll through the woods and was designed to be used for hiking, walking, and nature trips. The trail isn’t all that flat and does have a few short steep ups and downs to pass to complete the loop. But it shouldn’t be an issue for most people.
Tree Trail at Beaver’s Bend State Park
On the maps and various official websites the trail is listed as the Forest Heritage Tree Trail. But the trail head sign says Tree Trail. The trail head is next to the Forest Heritage Center Museum and sits directly across from a tall Wooden Native American Statue. Sitting across the beginning of the trails a large wooden sign that says Tree Trail on it. You can’t miss it. The beginning of the trail is steep drop with a mixture of slick rock, gravel and dirt. This can be slippery for those with unsteady footing. This section of the trail can be busy since it’s a short cut for those that are staying in the cabins nearby. But as you near the camping area, there are signs that point you in the direction of the trail and trail markers in white that lead you along the path. At this point the extra people on the trail start thinning out.
Once on the trail, you follow Beaver Creek along the floodplain of the creek, cross over a beautiful covered bridge and eventually loops you back to Forest Heritage Center. A long the way you will see informational signs that point to various types of trees and there’s even the ruins of the old settlers house and the original highway that passed through the park.
Keep in mind this trail crosses over another hiking trail several times and can be used to access more difficult trails. Each of these other trails are more difficult and do not return to the museum.
Our Experience On the Trail
This is our second visit to Beavers Bend State Park. Our first visit was over 10 years ago while on a leadership retreat with an old employer of mine. During that trip we spent our time fishing and canoeing when we weren’t doing employee/family related stuff.
For this trip I had plan for us to hike 3 or 4 trails that would total in about 4 or 5 miles. Unfortunately, we weren’t prepared for this trip and had to modify our plans once we realized several of the trails were no longer available and other trails were not listed property on Google Maps.
We ended up starting our day on the Tree Trail. We found it to be a good warm up trail that got us excited about exploring the other trails later that day and future visits. The trail is well maintained with several different side trail options created by locals. But all lead you back to the trail in some way. We only had to refer to our paper map a few times and AllTrails a couple of times to make sure we stayed on trail. The only parts I didn’t like was how busy this trail was and how slippery the start and finish to the trail. My wife was fine, but with my balance issues and poor ankles/knees I had to use my hiking poles to keep proper footing.
This concrete foundation is all that remains of the John and Leuvina Beavers House. The family donated the land that is now the state park. Without their donation, Beavers Bend State Park would not exist.
This section of the trail is part of the Old CCC Road. The road connected the park to Broken Bow. Once the park’s main entrance was opened, this section of the construction road was abandoned.
Tips
- Keep an out for signs and trail markers. The informational signs explain various things that are found along the trail and the trail markers placed in a way to keep you on the proper trail. There are several spots that lead to other trails and they difficult to hike and do not lead back to the trail head.
- Bring some water when it’s hot. It’s a short trail but having a little water on the trail doesn’t hurt and may help cool you off if you aren’t use to the hill climbs.
- Be careful of the slick rock, random loose rocks and exposed limbs. Easy tripping hazards.
- Make sure to use AllTrails to track your progress and keep you on route for the trip. I suggest getting the pro version so can download the map and use it offline. As long as your phone/tablet has GPS it should keep track of your location the trail map.
Follow me on AllTrails for all the trails I visit and review. I don’t always share my hiking adventures on here, or share them right away.
About the Images
The images were shot early on a gloomy and damp afternoon. I had some issues getting the images to stay in focus and removing noise from the images. I was able to fix some of the issues in post. I used my Sony a6000 using my Sony SELP18105G E PZ 18-105mm F4 G OSS. I then edited the images with Adobe Lightroom CC and Topaz Labs Denoise AI and Topaz Labs Sharpen AI and DXO NIK Collection.
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