I am a little slow sharing my account of this hike because it was my least favorite Southwest Missouri hike, and I was preparing for the 13 mile plus hike in Hercules Glades yesterday which was from the lookout tower to Lower Pilot Knob, then down into the Devil's Den, and with a nearly 600 foot elevation climb over about a miles distance out of the Long Creek valley back to the lookout tower. I am feeling that 600 feet today, and I am sure Kayleigh, my Labrador Retriever is as well based on the looks she was giving me as we hiked up the long climb. Hercules Glades offers some of the best hiking in Southwest Missouri. I can't say the same for the Little Sac River Trails.
Do you remember "The Pothole" episode of Seinfeld? It's the episode Cosmo Kramer decides to widen the lanes for driving comfort causing a real boondoggle. Well that's what I felt happened in the Little Sac River Trails. It's like someone got tired of challenging single track and decided to create the interstate highway of hiking trails. The trails in most places are wide, really wide, with a few exceptions of some single track.
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| The Cosmo Kramer of hiking trails. |
The trails sit near the Little Sac River, however, you can only view the river from one part of the forest preserve. It's a wide trail that turns into something less than single track as you navigate the loop. It allows you the opportunity to view the small river over a bluff that rises over one of its meandering twists.
I did find a little humor on the trail. At the Springfield Nature Center, the Missouri Department of Conservation asks that you not feed the animals or the fish along the trail because it encourages unnatural eating habits and makes the animals dependent. When you walk the Savannah Trail in the Little Sac, you discover the Missouri Department of Conservation actually plants a garden for the animals to feast from--complete with corn, turnips, and radishes. Go figure.
I hiked just over five miles in the Little Sac, and as each mile dragged on I kept an eye on the GPS noting how much closer I was getting to the starting location. Disappointment would be an understatement. The Sac River Trails operated by the City of Springfield and located a few miles south on Missouri 13 offer a more challenging series of trails for hikers and mountain bikers. There were a couple points were the scenery was nice, but not enough to make me want to hike the Little Sac again.
