Type of Use: Foot, wheelchair.
Length/Rating: 1.5-Mile Loop/Easy
Other Recreation Activities: Fishing, boating, small motor-boat boating, birdwatching, sightseeing, photography, picnicking, camping, mushroom/berry picking.
Nearby Facilities: Pinewoods Lake Recreation Area has 15 campsites.
Also nearby: Markham Spring Recreation Area, Deer Leap Recreation Area, Float Camp Recreation Area, Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Deer Run State Forest, Sam A. Baker State Park, Wappapello State Park, Mingo Wildlife Refuge.
Travelers on Highway 60 can stop by Pinewoods Lake Recreation Area for a rest. They might see the big lizard that the trail crew's been talking about. On a nice day, it's reputed to emerge from a tree hole near the fishing pier and bask in the sun. As the sun moves on, it would pull itself out a little more. Inch by inch, the body stretches up until only the rear legs and the long tail are left behind to cling to the tree.
The floating fishing pier is one of the prime features of the recreation area. It can accommodate 20 people, and the railing is designed so that at any spot you can cast a line from a wheelchair. The lake is stocked with largemouth bass, channel catfish, bluegill, and redear sunfish. Master-angler-sized fish have been caught here.
About a half mile of the trail is paved; the remainder is still on level ground and leads hikers around the 31-acre lake. The 3-foot-wide pavement has no more than a 4 percent slope. The trail starts at the shelter, where picnic tables and grills are available. Through some shortleaf pines, hickory, and oak trees, a leisurely walk will take you to barrier-free restrooms and a boat slide made of concrete barrels. In the woods, scarlet tanager, phoebe, and blue-gray gnatcatcher are common. You can see bluejays flying and hear the yellow-billed cuckoos calling"kuk-kuk-kuk."
In May, you'll find many wildflowers—horsemint, dittany, greenbrier, aster, wild indigo, and Virginia creeper. Wild plum, blackberry, and huckleberry bear various edible fruits. Little flowers are on cinquefoil and tick trefoil. Other species found here are scurf pea, Venus' looking glass, bluet, and wild rose. You can see a buffalo clover, rare in Carter County, which grew from dormant seeds when the trail was built.
Beyond the pavement, you can walk on the natural ground cover into the forest where a few virgin shortleaf pines live. Sometimes the trail runs near the lake; dead trees are still standing in the water. You may spot a red-headed woodpecker working hard on one of them. A pine warbler might be singing, and you may hear the sound of the bluegill feeding as they suck the bugs from the water surface. You may also hear a bullfrog—"Vroom! Vroom!"
The trail returns to the picnic area along the footpath on the dam. On the shoreline, you can see minnows in the shallow water. In a split second, they spread like Fourth of July fireworks. Once a pair of pileated woodpeckers nested in a tree near the parking lot. In their hole four young birds raised their heads and fiercely competed with one another for food. Such are the wonders of Pinewoods Lake. If on your visit you don't happen to see the baby woodpeckers or the giant lizard, you will certainly find something else special.
Return to
Top
RELATED GORP LINKS
GORP Missouri Resources
GORPtravel Adventure Vacations
