We hiked Carley State Park on June 24th, 2022.

Midmorning on a beautiful sunny warm day, our adventure began. The trail looped us around the North Branch Whitewater River.

Birds were singing, grasshoppers were jumping, and the plant life was so lush it had a tropical feel to it. We were surprised we didn’t see monkeys swinging from the trees.

The unpaved trails were wide and well maintained.

Mushrooms were enjoying the humidity.

We came to a river crossing however, there wasn’t a bridge to cross. The large rocks that jetted out in the river were spread out just far enough to make it too hard to use them to get across. We really wanted to see the trail on the other side of the river, so we decided to take our boots and socks off and cross barefooted. The cold river felt great on our feet.

Once on the other side of the river, the trail became much narrower.

We crossed the river a few more times. Thankfully, there were giant concrete steps for us to use.

Carley State Park is known for their spring Bluebells. Unfortunately, these were the only Bluebells we found.

Our hiking adventure was 2.4 miles.