keystone ancient forest

The trails are nice through the woods. There are supposed to be some 100 yr old trees along the trail but since they arent marked, you dont know which ones. There are a lot of steep hills on the main trails, but there is an easy paved trail too, although its really short. Allow 3-4 hrs at minimum for the longer trails.

The Keystone Ancient Forest is only open to the public 12 days a year so getting to hike there is a real treat. Look at the calendar on the city of Sand Springs website to know which days it is open.. They lock the gates at 2pm so plan to be back to your car before then.We enjoyed our hike. We hiked on the Childers Trail which was paved. They recently opened a new harder trail to hike on.The volunteer staff were informative, helpful, and friendly.See photos.

Not much to see here but trees. I knew the lake was somewhere below the trail but trail did not go close to it. I was somewhat disappointed that it was simply a nice walk in the woods, nothing special.

The Keystone Ancient Forest is a preserved crosstimbers forest owned and managed by the City of Sand Springs. They have three trails so far including a 0.8 mile fully ADA Compliant (or so a volunteer told me) paved trail. The trails are in excellent condition and they have good signage and rest stops and places to take photographs.The only issue I have is that the trail is not open very often so it is something you need to plan for rather than drop in. Check the City of Sand Springs web site for their open dates. (http://www.sandspringsok.org/Index.aspx?NID=175)Also note that no pets are allowed. They do have a nice parking area and portapotties. They volunteers on duty are very helpful and friendly.