Hike @ Eagle Creek

Time for a local hike! For this event, we'll meet at one of our usual spots to cover between 5 and 6 miles in roughly 2.5 hours. The trails at Eagle Creek are in the easy to moderate category, and admission is $6 for Marion County residents.

We'll meet at the Peace Learning Center's parking lot. A map of Eagle Creek is located at https://eaglecreekpark.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Trail-Map-3_24_18.pdf.

Restrooms are located at the Earth Discovery Center down the street from the Learning Center.

The hike itself will consist of two different routes through the park, one covering the northern part of Eagle Creek, and the second routing through the southern half.

We'll begin from the parking lot of the Peace Learning Center and follow the red trail up to the Ornithology Center. We'll then hike part of the fitness trail and cut across the middle of the park to return to where we started at the Peace Learning Center. (If anyone needs to take off at this point, you can.)

For the second part, we'll head east and then south on the orange trail and pick up the red trail to return to where we began.

If you enter from the 56th Street entrance, once you pass through the gate house, you'll continue on the street you're on (Eagle Creek Parkway) and eventually pass a parking lot on your right. You'll stay on Eagle Creek Parkway for quite a while until you reach Walnut Point Road. Take a left there. Walnut Point also leads to the marina. After getting on Walnut Point, the first intersection you come to will have a ranger station on the right, but here you will make a left and then a quick right into the Learning Center parking lot.

If you enter from the 71st Street entrance, once you pass through the gate house, you'll wind your way through the park, staying on the same road (Eagle Creek Parkway), until you reach Walnut Point Road. Take a right at Walnut Point, which also leads to the marina, and continue down the street to the first intersection. A ranger station will be on the right. Take a left there and then a quick right into the parking lot.

Car Pool Info: If anyone is interested in doing a car pool, please send a message to me through the site by Friday evening.

After the hike, for those interested, we can plan to grab lunch at Luciana's at Trader's Point.

Please note:
Terrain: Easy to moderate
Time: Around 2 to 2.5 hours

See you on Saturday,
Michael