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Back in early November 2020 my wife and I decided to do a day trip out to Beavers Bend State Park for some hiking. We ended up hiking two trails that day. We first hiked Indian Nature Trail, an unofficial or retired trail at the park, and Lookout Mountain Trail.
Lookout Mountain Trail at Beavers Bend State Park
The Lookout Mountain Trail at Beavers Bend State Park is an out and back trail and is 1.9 miles. The trail features a forest setting, small creek crossing (usually dry), and is rated as moderate. But there are parts of the trail that may be more difficult than the moderate rating.
Getting to the trail is easy. If you are coming from Broken Bow on 259 towards the park, take the first exit for 259a and drive a few miles. If you get to the nature center and park offices you’ve gone too far. Just before the center you will see on both sides of the road where cars are parked. One side of the road is for the Lookout Mountain Trail and the other side of the road is for another trail.
Our Hike
We started our hike almost 2 hours before dark. That should have been enough to complete the hike, but this trail is a little more difficult than the moderate claim that AllTrails says it is. Plus, if you aren’t paying attention, you will miss the blazing mark that says take the small trail to the right that leads you down a steep embankment and back up the other side. We originally thought this was a side trail and continued on. About half a mile or more we realized we missed our turn and ended up on the Tree Trail. We somehow ended up on one of the many connector trails that leads from one to trail to the next. You can find these official and unofficial connectors throughout the park. (AllTrails Says we verified completed but it didn’t save the actual hike)
The first part of the trail is pretty easy. It’s a mixture of light inclines/declines. But then the trail starts skirting the ridge of the valley. It’s a steep sliding drop. Once you start sliding you won’t stop till you get to the creek bottom. The problem is the trail is flat. One side is taller than the other. This is killer on your knees and ankles. If you missed the turn and end up on the connector trail it gets even worse.
You can use trekking poles to help with your balance and give yourself a little more grip when walking the path.
After back tracking I was able to find the turn to get back on the trail. We went down the valley path and started back up the other side when we met up with a family that was coming back down and advised us to turn around. It was getting late, and we would be hiking the trail back to our car after dark. They said they never found the end point and hiked over 2 miles. The trail just keeps going.
At that point we decided to head back. They were right, we got back just as the sun was setting.
Although AllTrails says we completed the trail we still have about a mile left to explore. We are keeping it on our list to hike again.
Final Thoughts
This isn’t our favorite trail at the park. The views aren’t that good. The trail is more about the hike and building endurance for future and more difficult hikes. That’s how we look at it. If you are looking for views, this isn’t the trail for you. I’d say it might be a good one for birdwatching but it’s so close to the park offices that it’s on the busier side.
About the Images
The images were shot on a late afternoon close to evening. 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, Topaz Labs Denoise AI, Topaz Labs Sharpen AI, , Aurora HDR, and Luminar AI.
About James
Go check out Mother Neff Park