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NOTE - THE FOREST SERVICE HAS RECENTLY UPDATED THE TRAIL MARKING
SYSTEM. LARGE WOODEN DIRECTIONAL SIGNS (see picture) ARE INSTALLED AT TRAIL INTERSECTIONS. WE
APPLAUD THE FOREST SERVICE FOR THEIR EFFORTS TOWARD A CLEARLY MARKED
TRAIL SYSTEM !!!
Click here to Link to Trails Map for the Eddyville Area Note - this is a very large file (2.3MB) and takes some time to load. The actual map is large, 24" x 32", printed on both sides in color. This Forest Service map ONLY shows trails on National Forest ground, there are additional connecting trails on private ground, shown on another map provided when you check-in.
East of Hayes Canyon Campground are locations such as Lusk Creek Wilderness, Indian Kitchen, Saltpeter Cave, Natural Bridge, etc.
To the West of Hayes Canyon Campground are Bay Creek Wilderness, Jackson Hole, Peter's Cave, and Sand Cave. Double Branch Hole is just off the West of our property boundary.
Notes to help you plan your trip : Trail conditions vary from level to very steep grades and from dirt to gravel to rocky. Your trip will be more enjoyable for both of you if your horse is adequately conditioned. There are many opportunities to offer water on the trail, but if visiting during the heat of the summer accustom your horse to accepting electrolyte solution in some form before your visit. It is highly recommended to have your equine shod x4. Those with sensitive hooves may benefit from pads. Barefoot horses may find the flat ledges of limestone rock encountered on trail much more slippery than to shod horses. Some visitors use hoof boots successfully, but this takes advance preparation and be sure the boots fit securely or it could be expensive and frustrating.
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OUR MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION = Are the trails marked well? To start, the trails are definitely, marked better then they have ever been in the past. A few short years ago there was no mapped trail system and little to no trail markings. The Shawnee National Forest trail system is an extensive system with variety and a multitude of trails. The sheer mileage of trails and multiple intersections and options can be challenging for first-time visitors, but it is also what keeps people coming back time and time again. For example, if there was only one single route to take to get from camp to Crow Knob then it would be ‘easier’ to find. However, there are several different routes that can be taken, so there are options for longer or shorter routes, more challenging or easier routes, flatter or hillier routes, creekside or highland routes, long level ‘gaiting’ trails or rocky bluffside trails, you get the picture. You will be riding in a 280,000 acre National Forest, with literally hundreds of miles of trails. You will be riding in Wilderness areas, where the riding can be expected to be mentally and physically challenging for you and your horse, but also breathtakingly beautiful. As a first-time visitor, you can expect to need to use your map (issued when you check-in) and a compass (or a GPS). You can NOT expect to just ride out ‘blind’ and cannot expect that every intersection will point you back to camp. At most trail intersections will be a sign, for example saying that the intersection is trail 496 with trail 493. Then you will look at your map and find out that you want to take trail 493 heading North to get back to camp, then use your compass to make sure you do head North on 493. Hopefully this information makes your expectations realistic. Come see what keeps visitors returning to the Shawnee year after year from all over the country. |
Feel free to contact us of you have
any questions or comments.
Hayes Canyon Campground
PO Box 186
Main Street Road
Eddyville IL 62928
(618) 672-4751
info@hayescanyon.com
© 2008 Hayes Canyon Campground