November 22, 2024

The plan for today was to hike the Turkey Pen Trail, but when I arrived I discovered that there was a little nature trail at the parking lot and the Acorn Trail and the Devin’s Kitchen Trail all were within the circle of the Turkey Pen Hollow Trail so I decided to hike them all. In total that put me at about 10 miles for the day.

It was a beautiful day. The temperature was 30 – 40 while I was out. There was a little breeze once in awhile that was cool but overall, very pleasant temperatures for hiking.

I saw two people at about the 3.5 mile marker and then at about the 6 miles marker I came across a single person on the Turkey Pen Hollow Trail. Other than these encounters, I had the trails to myself. At times you will be far enough away that you won’t hear any traffic. Because of the time of year, I heard very few birds. I did come across a deer on the Acorn Trail and a doe and fawn on the Devin’s Kitchen Trail. A few squirrels were here and there on the trails.

The Turkey Pen Hollow Trail does have controlled burning at times so this was my second time to try and hike it. If it is closed, the parking lot will be marked off so parking is not allowed. If this parking lot is full, there is another parking lot to the right and one to the left that you may be able to use.

There is a visitor’s center at the entrance of the park that has a bathroom. Or at the end of the Devin’s Kitchen Trail there is a primitive bathroom and picnic shelters.

This park is very popular so planning ahead for crowds is advised.

I have a few more photos from today on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61571357578836