Heart O' the Forest — Sunday, May. 16, 2021

The Heart O The Forest trail is a fairly easy trail setting out from the Heart O The Hills Campground (section E). The trail is generally very well maintained and easily negotiated (though not suitable for wheelchairs or strollers). The trail descends gradually from the campground and much of it is parallel to Lake Creek. I ran into just three other groups of two to three people. The posted length of the trail is 2 miles; Green Trails Map gives 2.3; but I went out to 3.1 miles. The well-maintained part of the trail ended at about mile 2 with some fallen trees. Past that, a slide and large downed tree likely indicated the end of the official trail, but no signage was posted. The trail eventually descended down to Lake Creek. At this point, my GPS showed me to be a couple hundred yards beyond the park boundary on private land, so I turned back, again finding nothing to indicate re-entering the park. Perhaps the sign was on a tree that fell. It was a wonderful day. The only wildlife seen were a few toads.