DuPuis - Teal Hike

 

Now that we've done all the proper "hiking" trails at DuPuis, it's time to start hiking the horse trails. First up was the "teal" loop. Now that it's May, it's getting warm and humid, but it was a beautiful sunny day and we enjoyed our adventure.

Since we don't have horses, and so weren't able to access the equestrian campground, we decided the best place to start would be the day use picnic area on the DuPuis Grade Road. From there we walked to the campground, then retraced our steps back.

The main loop started across the road from the picnic area, and went to the western border. On our way we startled a few deer!

We weren't entirely sure which of the dirt roads was the correct trail, but when the one we selected started veering diagonally, we decided we should go back and choose the other one. From there we noticed where the "red" trail comes and goes which will be helpful in the future.

We didn't see a lot of wildlife, but we did notice a giant osprey nest, along with a few cows that meandered out of our way as we drew closer.

We ate our lunch where the trail crossed the Ocean-to-Lake Trail, and then continued on our way south.

A little ways after crossing a creek, we made it to the main dirt road. Then it was time to head north back to our starting point.

The trail paralleled the park road, and even occasionally was part of it.

Mission accomplished!!

To recap, we parked and started at the green dot, otherwise known as the day use picnic area. First, we headed east to the equestrian campground, then retraced our steps back to our beginning. We crossed the dirt road and did the loop counter-clockwise.