Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller
Date: November 7, 2025
After lunch in nearby Rockville at 36 Saloon with friend Roger Jeffers (thank you Roger for treating us), we returned to the state park, ascended 70 steps and crossed fast flowing Sugar Creek. We plan to return next year and kayak the creek. We hiked west on trail #3, turned north and entered Bear Hollow. Once again temperatures dropped significantly as we wormed our way through this tight hollow with rock formations on each side. Several areas were very tight, and we had to climb precarious, thin rock ledges to move on down the “mini canyon”. At the end of the hollow, we climbed two sets of ladders to emerge to higher ground. The trail was now back to a high canopy forest with beautiful fall leaf colors but had several steep hills, one of which was the infamous “140 steps” which was a tough climb. We took Trail #10 north to “Camel’s Back”. Peering across the valley into a distant hill it looked like the rocks on the ridge resembled a camel’s back. A long hike back south eventually brought us back to the suspension bridge. Once across the bridge it was a short hike before we ascended the tough 70 steps for the third and final time. He hiked a total of 4.5 miles on this afternoon (7.3 for the day) adventure, and our legs were tuckered out. This state park was as pretty and as challenging as our friends told us.
Afterwards, at the Nature Center we received special stickers for completing the 5-mile Trail Challenge. There were about 1,500 steps and three ladders on the route. We were then off to the Mayberry café for dinner and then our 3.5-hour drive home. One additional note, we passed many covered bridges in the county. The county has 31 covered bridges.
