Deliciously Ordinary – Lindsay + Tim Stockhecke
March 2023 | www.deliciouslyordinary.com
Located eleven miles south of Murphysboro Main Street, Cove Hollow Trail packs an unexpected punch and a winter hike on the cusp of spring proves to be a great time to visit. We headed out on a sunny 49 -degree day and while we’ve had plenty of rain, making for a running waterfall, it hadn’t been so much to make for an overly muddy trail. We find one of the best preparations for hiking on chilly days is to layer up so beanies and double socks were on the agenda, and with the sun out we each shed a layer feeling cozy as could be.
The trail is an in-and-out trail that hugs Cedar Lake, providing one of our family hike favorites, a water feature. The distance varies depending on which route you take (and what article, website or sign you may read), but we estimated our time to be 2.5 hours and about 4 miles. The trail has beautiful scenery as it weaves through rock formations, creek beds, wildflowers, lush ferns and wildlife all around. The landscape changes throughout keeping you captivated with the variety of all there is to see.
Traveling with 3 children, ages 13, 9 and 7 we all agreed this was a fun and easy to moderate hike with some terrain being more or less difficult depending on the weather conditions. Some of their self described favorite features were the pigeon nests in the rocks, the ample moss all around, beaver markings, and feeling the flowing waterfall. Additionally, we saw a mountain bicyclist during our visit and thought that it looked pretty exciting, albeit challenging, as well as gear for rock climbing and several fire pits.
The trailhead was well marked with an obvious parking area and we did not lose phone service, in the chance of an emergency.
For additional info check these out ->
https://www.hikingwithshawn.com/cove-hollow-trail/
https://www.explorecarbondale.com/166/Cedar-Lake
