My wife and I headed down to the Shawnee for a trip to one of the nicest overlooks in the Shawnee. What will now be known as Christmas Star Overlook. Further East along the River to River Trail is another more well known overlook, though I don’t know its name, which is more used and has a horse tie up and is right on the trail.
This is actually off the trail to the South a little and a lot of people pass it by without really noticing it, especially during leaf season. It has a few nice tent areas around it, flat and mossy. It has a fire ring on the edge of the bluff and you can see for miles.
When we were there, the Star was still up, a hideous 7ft tall crudely made star with at one time solar lights because some people think the forest is improved with more garbage. (JMO) It was attached to a poor defenseless cedar tree by chains and cables because the dimwit who put it up was afraid someone would prefer an unobstructed view. Now the tree and star are both gone and people will just have to make due with hills and trees, and the rest of natures beauty that we all came to see. The trail is fairly hilly to get there with alternating hills and flat stretches. There are some nice bluffs along the way and if you are game for more the trail is great all the way to the Garden of the Gods Observation trail parking lot and beyond. The way from Hitchin post trailhead to Garden of the Gods is around 5 miles. High Knob is another 4 and makes a great day trip if you can get a ride back or use 2 cars. Fast hikers can make it an in and out.
I’ll add a page for High Knob and Hurricane Bluff soon.
