W. Goodrich Jones State Forest

Trail
N/A
N/A
Free
1star (1.25)2
1star (1.00)
2point5stars (2.75)
No
Yes
Yes
No
Conroe
Montgomery
More Info
Photos
Long, Straight Trails
The trails are long straightaways. (Photo by Lone_Star)
Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Habitat
On the north side of FM1488, near the Texas A&M Forest Service building, there is an area preserved for the red-cockaded woodpecker. (Photo by Lone_Star)
Excellent Signage
There are no distance markers, but these "street signs" let you know where you are. (Photo by Lone_Star)
Pond
This small pond is off the Middle Lake Trail. (Photo by Lone_Star)
Entrance Sign
This is the sign to the W. G. Jones State Forest. (Photo by Lone_Star)
Log Entries
Easy but pretty
By Missgirlwonder on 1/7/2016
Rating: 1star Difficulty: 1star Solitude: 3stars
Distance: 3.00 Miles Duration: N/A

Easy hike, clear cut paths, but it's great for some exercise. It's heavily wooded and quite pretty. During the summer the dogs can take a dip in the reservoirs. Today I just wanted a short drive and nice hike, WG Jones was perfect. 

Many Trails In Grid Format
By Lone_Star on 4/8/2013
Rating: 1point5stars Difficulty: 1star Solitude: 2point5stars
Distance: 12.20 Miles Duration: 4 hours, 1 minute

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.