Many Trails In Grid Format

Excellent Signage
There are no distance markers, but these "street signs" let you know where you are.
User: Blaze - 4/8/2013

Location: W. Goodrich Jones State Forest

Rating: 1point5stars
Difficulty: 1star  Solitude: 2point5stars
Miles Hiked: 12.20 Miles  Elapsed Time: 4 hours, 1 minute

Comments:

W. Goodrich Jones State Forest is a large rectangular plot of forested land that has trails running along the perimeter as well as several trails criss-crossing the interior.  Most of these trails are straight, so the trails are laid out in a grid.  It feels like a street map in a way and there are "street signs" at the corner of each trail intersection.

The majority of the W. Goodrich Jones State Forest is south of FM1488, but there is a section to the north of FM1488, too.  This northern section contains the Sweetleaf Nature Trail which I hiked a couple of months earlier (you can read my log of that location here).

There is a small parking lot on the south side of FM1488.  There are a couple of small ponds, but otherwise there's not a lot to see other than a lot of trees.  On the northern side of FM1488, there is a section for the red-cockaded woodpecker, an endangered species.  I didn't see any of them, but I did hear a lot of them.  The trails are not only for hiking, but for equestrians, joggers and mountain bikers.

I recently purchased a GPS, so this hike was my first opportunity to test it out and become familiarized with it.  I took a rather circuitous route so I could cover the majority of all the trails.  I have uploaded the .GPX file.

Not a great hike in terms of scenery, but a good place to get some distance in.



Log Photos
Entrance Sign
Pond
Excellent Signage
Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Habitat
Long, Straight Trails