Big East Fork Reserve Trail

Dogs No Dogs

Features Birding · Lake · River/Creek · Spring · Views · Wildflowers

Timberland is a terrific place to visit and when the weather gets nice is likely to be very popular indeed. There's plenty of parking and the Nature Center is well appointed and staffed by helpful volunteers.

The trails are well groomed and should be ideal for a run. In fact, despite the chill we saw two folks taking advantage of them the day we were there hiking.

This opened to the public in September of 2017. It was worth the wait!

Taking off from the Dry Creek Trail on the northwest quadrant of the park, this trail begins as a wide, pleasant run downhill and thence along a dry stream bed that meanders WNW. There are some rolling hills as you mostly follow the stream, but nothing too obnoxious (that comes later). It's a genuinely enjoyable run with numerous places to stop and enjoy the scenery. At the far northwest end you exit the woods and onto what appears to be a resort-type property, called Big East Fork Retreat. There are what appear to be stables and a really neat looking concrete dome (which I have seen called a "hogan") that looks very appropriate for, oh, I don't know, painting or crafts, or even semi-rugged camping. The walls along two sides are made from colored bottles set in the concrete and I would imagine it's very pretty inside on a sunny day.

Nearby is a pretty, apparently spring-fed lake bordered by several benches, making it very attractive for picnickers. At this point the trail bends back to the southeast, bordering the forest for about a quarter mile before plunging back in to the woods. Depending on the recent weather it may be a bit mucky here but take heart, it doesn't last long. The path remains wide and pleasant and slopes generally up hill, past an attractive spring and a disused shack, and it's a real joy until the last, where it starts to climb back up the ridge. The worst bit is only 600-700 feet long before finally leveling out at the junction of several trails. You're only a few minutes run from the interpretive center at this point.