Planning

After a few hikes in Raccoon Creek, I was excited to explore new areas. This was a relatively short hike, but given the hot summer weather, this was a selling point. I thought that actually getting to see the creek the park was named after would be a nice touch. I chose to hike the trail counterclockwise as I’d rather deal with shorter but steeper elevation gains. The only drawback was that I would start and end the hike with said gains. However, this was not a significant issue, given that it was only a 2.4-mile hike.

Trailhead

There is ample parking, as the area is home to several attractions. The most notable is the wildflower reserve and Interpretive Center. The wildflower reserve was in bloom at this time of year, and I decided to save walking around it for after my walk. The trailhead for this loop was fairly easy to find, and my GPS app took me right to it. It started with an uphill hike to the Hungerford Cabin, which was once a vacation home for the political cartoonist Cy Hungerford.

A Noisy Start

After passing by the cabin, you hit a section of the trail that made me feel like I was not really out in the woods. This is because it closely followed Route 30. Regularly seeing and hearing vehicles nearby was not very relaxing. However, it did not take long for the path to take you away from that and deeper into the woods.

The trek further into the woods was a welcome change, and it also highlighted the recent work on the trail. It was obvious that someone had trimmed the weeds just a few days before. The vegetation along the trail was short, with clippings strewn about.

Along Raccoon Creek

As I neared Raccoon Creek, I was greeted with some gorgeous rock formations. On my left were beautiful cliffs, and the water was on my right. The photos I took really did not do it justice, as they expanded well beyond my camera’s field of view. The weather was hot and humid, but with little to no rain, the creek was low and slow.

Near the creek, there were several interconnected paths, allowing you to lengthen or shorten your hike as needed. I chose to stay closer to the river as I felt that the views and vegetation were more interesting. It culminated with a great view from Shafer’s Rock. This was a great spot to take pictures, grab a snack, and enjoy the view of the creek.

Back to Parking Lot

Unfortunately, the trail after that spot on the creek was difficult to navigate. The trail had been cut down low a while back, but the top was growing over with picker bushes and other vegetation. Yet, after a bit, it opened up into some larger forest.

It was going through this section that I encountered the namesake for the nearby creek. A smaller-sized raccoon scurried from the trail, climbed a tree, and eventually sat to look down at me. Later along that trail, I encountered the largest millipede I think I ever saw in the wild. It was great fun to watch these animals move in their natural spaces.

The last part of my hike to the parking lot was uphill and quite rocky. It was not the ideal way to end things, but I think it was better than the low-grade uphill walk it would have been in the other direction.

Back at the parking lot, I took a few pictures of the flowers and talked with some of the other visitors. There were a few volunteers who were going out to work on sections of the trail, and I was sure to thank them for their efforts. We all need these natural spaces!

What went well

• It was a great short hike with plenty of (mostly) well-maintained trails.
• Seeing wildlife was a welcome change, even if the raccoon did startle me a bit.

Even Better If

• The section with overgrown picker bushes was difficult to navigate. Luckily, trekking poles were good at pushing them out of the way.