Babler State Park
Babler State Park
Beautiful Fall Hike at Babler State Park in Wildwood Missouri.
On October 22, 2022 - made my first trip to Babler State Park. Great weather with the temperature at 10am around 70 degrees. The drive to Babler was short (about 45 minutes) and fall tree colors were awesome. For this Hike Joe and Ann came along. The park has a grand entrance as you can see from the photo.
The visitor center was well stocked with supplies and good advice. Mainly I needed a detailed trail map and directions to the trailhead. Both were quickly acquired and we were on our way. Overall there are 8 separate trails including one for equestrians and one for bi-cycles. We chose the Dogwood Trail which was well marked.. The trail itself rose in elevation nearly 300 feet (our Apple watch all had different opinions). The change in elevation allowed us to see a wide variety of the forest deep into the park. The trail also went through green valleys in the low sections and there were some heavily wooded sections as well.
Along the hike we took a few short spurs which all lead to some interesting things to see. The first spur took us up to a large pavilion and a wide open area including a BBQ pit for a picnic. The pavilion had plenty of tables and a large built-in wood burning fireplace. Super cool spot for a picnic. The second spur took us to a very old graveyard where many of the Coleman family are buried. Most of the graves were from the 1800’s and an Eagle Scout Project was memorialized there - to help with clean up and preservation the graveyard. The third spur off the trail took us to the Babler spring and a very small cave. The spring water was flowing a constant pace into a creek.
As we looped back to the trailhead after a 2 mile hike, we hopped on to the Woodbine trail. The Woodbine trail shares a trailhead with the Dogwood trail. The Woodbine trail was not as steep nor as long (about 1.8 miles) as the Dogwood trail. On the Woodbine trail you cross a small footbridge and hike along a stand of sweet gum trees. These trees were likely planted to mark a homestead boundary more than 100 years ago. Just past the sweet gum trees the trail reaches a paved bi-cycle path and crosses Crystal Spring, which is the other continuously flowing springs in the park. The trail loops back to the trailhead.
Exploring Babler Park was the highlight of my weekend and I will definitely make another trip back, probably to hike a couple of the other trails. The Park is easy to navigate and any questions are quickly handled by the nice staff at the visitor center. Fun day for sure.
