Date: February 4, 2017 Time: 9:15 am

Place: Cedar Hill State Park - Cedar Hill, TX

Distance: 3.1 miles

Flexibility is key in planning hiking excursions. I thought I had a plan for this one but it went out the window when we arrived at the gate to the park. The ranger taking my pass said the trails I wanted to hike were closed for maintenance and suggested one of the mountain bike trails in the back. Okay, I guess. I had monitored the Facebook and state website for a week and hadn't noticed anything about the two trails I had in mind, but that's irrelevant when you're there and don't have a back up plan. So, to the mountain bike trails we went.

The DORBA (Dallas Off Road Bicycle Association) trails are well-maintained for the bikers and do welcome hikers; Bikes went clockwise along the loop while hiking went counterclockwise. I didn't want to be in anyone's way. There was a giant loop, a medium loop, and a small loop. They all used the same trail, just offered shortcuts to the return path depending on how long you wanted to go. We had a limited amount of time today, so we only did the small loop. It was about 3.1 miles, varied terrain, and mostly pleasant overall. The woods was filled with birds and little critters, we only passed 4 bikers, and only had about 10 seconds of raindrops! The temp was a cool 45 degrees, the sky was gray, and the wind non existent in the woods.

All in all, it was a surprisingly nice hike. The park itself wasn't exactly what I expected, but that's neither bad nor good. I may revisit the trails and opt for one of the longer ones next time.

Happy hiking!