east trail

Bring good shoes, it's pretty steep! However, it's worth it. We ate lunch at the top, and enjoyed the gorgeous views! We were there early October, and could already see the colors changing.

The East Trail in Lost Maples State Park was quite a hike, but the views were worth it. I recommend hiking boots as the loose gravel can be tough to navigate and bring plenty of water.

Okay, so it wasn't THAT bad, but it is definitely not a trail for the small, the weak, or the infirmed. But for those can, it is worth the effort. You will be rewarded with a beautiful view of the hill country once you reach the top. It is a 4.6 mile hike that gets pretty steep at parts. A couple of places you had to cross shallow water on stepstones and on the descent there were a few rocks you had to climb down that were about two feet drops, so if you have bad knees or ankles this is not the trail for you. My nine-year old daughter made the round trip so it isn't terrible (she didn't even complain) but be prepared and bring lots of water. We went through two bottles per person over a three hour hike.

The east trail in the Lost Maples park was a nice adventure. We walked it counter-clockwise, which is probably the intended direction. Going that direction, you have steps carved into the hill for the climb, and then coming back down you walk down a rocky slope. Therefore if you walk it clockwise, you'll walk up a rocky slope that could be a little slippery due to loose rocks, but then you would have steps for the downhill portion. Either way, the hill is about in the middle so you get some relatively flat ground at either end. The only complaint I had but it wasn't major, was that the park mark wasn't very accurate and the scale seemed a bit off. A couple of notable features, like "Monkey Rock" weren't indicated on the map. And the composting toilet at camp site A is shown on the North side of the trail on the map. After looking for it for several minutes, we finally found it on the South side and at the West end of the camp instead of to the East. It would have been nice to have a few more reference points to where you were on the trail. Still, that didn't degrade the quality of the hike. I hope to go back again the next time I am in the area and do the West Trail.

The hike was beautiful, very serene. It is quite rocky and steep at some places. We had our hiking sticks which helped us quite a bit. View at the ponds was beautiful specially at sunset.

The east loop trail is a great little hike. It travels past the maple trees and crosses the stream in several places. Total length is ~4.5 miles. We did it in ~ 2 hrs including multiple stops to enjoy the scenery. The is one steep section but it's fairly doable for the average day hiker. Overall good views, crystal clear water and nice rock features. The trail is extremely easy to follow.

I like that it was challenging at times in terms of steepness, but it was completely doable and fun. Takes about 3 hours if you go at a leisurely pace.

Loved it. Warning signs of steep slopes was very accurate, 1.5 miles straight up rocky terrain.