Shawnee Group of the Sierra Club

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Adventures with Uncle Bob

Horse Creek Trail

Directions: Take IL Highway 3 south to McClure, IL. The town is about 3 miles north of the road junction to access Cape Girardeau.  Watch for a brown Forest Service sign for Grapevine Trail campground.  Turn left and travel 4.5 miles. Just before the campground, there is a gravel road with no signage on your right.  Drive up this steep road to the top of the bluff.  At the road junction, continue straight ahead (yes, despite appearances, it is a road).  You will see two signed trailheads as this is a loop trail.  This five mile trail is rugged, so I recommend starting at the second trailhead and follow the steep descent into the canyon.  It offers great views over the countryside.  There is an unmarked junction when you reach the bottom of the canyon.  Go left.  Spring wildflowers are diverse in this area.  The forest changes from pines to tulip poplar plantations.  During a spring hike, I experienced the deafening sounds of cicada  insects. I’ve never experienced this on other trails.  The trail will next make a gradual ascent out of the canyon to the gravel road.  At the road, turn left and walk about 0.3 miles back to your starting point. I have asked the forest service trail master to make signs for the above unmarked places. 

This will be our May Sierra hike.  While here, why not visit the proposed Ripple Hollow Wilderness, just north of here.  Horse Creek Trail is also listed on page 261 in the book:  Fifty Nature Walks in Southern Illinois. For more information, contact Bob Tyson at 684-5643.