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It is organized by trail, so that it will be easy for people to find information.
Please read our usage notes before starting. You can read reviews without joining the forum, but you have to join if you want to post. Click here to register.
Onondaga Cave State Park - Oak Ridge Trail
Posted by: Bob Caito (IP Logged)
Date: January 19, 2006 05:16PM
Distance: 3.25 miles
Official Site: [www.mostateparks.com]
The 3.25-mile Oak Ridge Trail at Onondaga Cave State Park is not quite as scenic as the Deer Run Trail, also reviewed on this site. However, the trail has a nice wild feel to it and has a little bit of everything: hollows, ridges, and glades, but no overlooks like the Deer Run.
You can access the trail one of two ways: from a connector off the point-to-point Blue Heron Trail, which starts at the visitor center, or from the campground behind site #17. Red blazes on trees show you the way, which would be tricky without them. If hiking clockwise starting from the campground, you will be able to see the campground below to your left for at least half a mile. But once the campground is no longer in sight, the trail feels more peaceful.
Supposedly, when reaching this part of the hike, there is a connector trail with white trail markers to the Deer Run. I couldn't find it when I hiked here. But anyway, the trail passes through a quiet hollow and past some intermittent waterfalls before climbing up onto a ridge. There is a bench at the top of the ridge, which makes a good resting point. After walking along the breezy ridge, you will hike along the edge of the first of 2 glades, from which you can see the hills all around.
Once you descend out of the last glade, you will hike through another hollow and zig-zag across another rocky, intermittent stream before reaching a trail marker directing you to either the Blue Heron or back to the Oak Ridge's trailhead. In the section just mentioned, the hike is a lot easier to follow if you finish the hike near here instead of starting it. The afforementioned red trail blazes are not as clear when hiking counter-clockwise through here, and you can get lost and end up out of the woods onto Hwy. H. (I know, the first time I tried hiking here, I did just that.)
A great day at Onondaga would be to hike the Blue Heron, Oak Ridge, and Deer Run trails for 7 miles total, and if you have energy leftover, take the tour of Onondaga Cave. It's a great way to experience the scenery of the upper Meramec River valley.
Edited 1 times. Last edit at 01/23/06 09:30AM by Nick Kasoff.
Official Site: [www.mostateparks.com]
The 3.25-mile Oak Ridge Trail at Onondaga Cave State Park is not quite as scenic as the Deer Run Trail, also reviewed on this site. However, the trail has a nice wild feel to it and has a little bit of everything: hollows, ridges, and glades, but no overlooks like the Deer Run.
You can access the trail one of two ways: from a connector off the point-to-point Blue Heron Trail, which starts at the visitor center, or from the campground behind site #17. Red blazes on trees show you the way, which would be tricky without them. If hiking clockwise starting from the campground, you will be able to see the campground below to your left for at least half a mile. But once the campground is no longer in sight, the trail feels more peaceful.
Supposedly, when reaching this part of the hike, there is a connector trail with white trail markers to the Deer Run. I couldn't find it when I hiked here. But anyway, the trail passes through a quiet hollow and past some intermittent waterfalls before climbing up onto a ridge. There is a bench at the top of the ridge, which makes a good resting point. After walking along the breezy ridge, you will hike along the edge of the first of 2 glades, from which you can see the hills all around.
Once you descend out of the last glade, you will hike through another hollow and zig-zag across another rocky, intermittent stream before reaching a trail marker directing you to either the Blue Heron or back to the Oak Ridge's trailhead. In the section just mentioned, the hike is a lot easier to follow if you finish the hike near here instead of starting it. The afforementioned red trail blazes are not as clear when hiking counter-clockwise through here, and you can get lost and end up out of the woods onto Hwy. H. (I know, the first time I tried hiking here, I did just that.)
A great day at Onondaga would be to hike the Blue Heron, Oak Ridge, and Deer Run trails for 7 miles total, and if you have energy leftover, take the tour of Onondaga Cave. It's a great way to experience the scenery of the upper Meramec River valley.
Edited 1 times. Last edit at 01/23/06 09:30AM by Nick Kasoff.
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