Lowden Miller State Forest Hike 5-17-13

Wilma and I hiked the northern trails here previously. This time we concentrated on the trails to the south.

We hiked most of the trails on the south end of the forest. Wilma appreciated the creek and the river. It is a nice forest. The trails are well defined, the marker numbers are all where expected, and both the trail markers and the trails closely correspond with the trail map.

The trails are in good condition, no mud except right by the creek. Most could use a haircut. Lots of larger branches and trees down but nothing that seriously impedes hiking right now. It will impede the mower though. A lot of the trails will need some chainsaw attention to get the mower through.

I was wondering if the shed and the steps between 64 and 65 down to the river used to be some kind of horse camp. There appears to be some places to tie up your horses and the steps look like they might have been for horse watering. Nothing in the shed but a couple of empty blue barrels. I got a kick out of the "No Smoking Within 15 Feet" sign on the door. One of the IDNR guys with a sense of humor? Wilma was warm and we went down to the river there twice for a drink and some splash time to cool off.

The turkeys in the area must be feeling safe after the end of spring turkey season. Must have seen at least 20 of them either in the forest or along the roads. Mostly along the roads.

The creek is not shown on the park map, nor are the steps down to the river. The map on the IDNR web site still shows a chunk of land in the middle of the park as private but it is now owned by the state. The maps I saw at the site had been updated to remove the "private" notation. The park superintendent told me the state has no money to print maps so they Xerox them on site to have something to hand out and put in the map boxes.

Lots of mosquitos. I also managed to acquire two ticks. I did not find any ticks on Wilma and the skeeters did not seem to bother her at all.

It sprinkled three or four times, but only for a brief period of time. The first time I got my waterproof jacket out and put it on, but it made me sweat so much I took it back off when no rain developed.

ETA: 5-22-13

I emailed the park super and asked him about the shed. This is his reply:

The shed at LMSF belongs to the Boy Scouts. Gov. Lowden was a big supporter of the scouts & he helped them by offer them a place for the camp & access to the river. When we purchased the property in 1993 is was agreed the scouts would still have access to the river for their canoe & water activities. The railings are used to lay their canoes on during the summer when the scouts are using the camp everyday.