Feral Hogs and Lots of Mud: Return To Buckeye Trail

Texas Buckeye Trail: 7000 Bexar Street, Dallas, TX

Headed up the levee

After being turned around due to flooding on the trails on Sunday, I decided it would be nice to come back to this trail. So I got my friend Emerson and headed over to the south end of Bexar street at around noon on Thursday. It was a nice day: slightly cloudy with temperatures in the low to mid 80's. We pulled up to the cul de sac outside Bonton Farms at around 12;30 and got going.

Entrance to the trail

Walking into the trail, it was evident that most of the water had dried up. We could even see some of the dried up footprints I had left behind from Sunday. After walking a few minutes, we reached the split in the trail. Luckily for us, the Buckeye Trail was not under water, so we pushed through the brush into the forest.

The Buckeye Trail trail head

It was immediately clear that the trail was very overgrown. It seemed as if no one had been through in months. There were fallen trees in the path, and the vegetation was crowding the trail. It was also extraordinarily muddy. None of this was a problem to us, though, because we had dressed appropriately. 

Maybe an old fence post?

After a few minutes, we reached what seemed to be an old fence post leaning against a fallen tree to form an arch, like an official entrance into the Great Trinity Forest. We stopped for a few pictures and kept going, dodging fallen trees and spider webs.

Fallen trees making things difficult

The trail was marked every couple hundred of feet with either a post that pointed in the direction of the trail or an orange ribbon tied to a bush or tree. Despite this, it was still pretty difficult to figure out which way we were supposed to be headed. There were a few times when we couldn't tell if we were following a game trail or the actual trail, and there were a few times when we actually had been following a game trail and had to backtrack to find the real trail.

One area where the real trail was difficult to find

We eventually made our way to the Buckeye Loop, and made it all the way to near the edge of the Trinity River (I assume - we could hear rushing water) before we ran into any trouble. And by trouble, I mean feral hogs. As we were halfway through the loop. I heard a loud crack and turned to my right only to see a giant feral hog running into the woods. We immediately froze, not knowing what to do in this type of situation. We then saw several other hogs walking behind a thin line of trees maybe 100 feet from us. We decided not to take our chances on anything, not knowing about how to deal with feral hogs and whether it would be safe or not to proceed, so we turned around and headed back out the way we came.

Believe it or not, this trail is paved

When we got back out of the trail and at the split, we decided to follow the paved path to the Trinity Overlook. Even though the trail was paved, the cement was covered in about an inch of dried mud at all times, and there were several fallen logs in the way, so this was not a walk in the park, but it was miles easier than the muddy and overgrown Buckeye Trail.

The views at the Trinity Overlook were stunning. Even though the Trinity is a pretty gross river, it was still great to be standing on its banks and hearing the rushing of its waters. We stood there for a few minutes taking pictures and soaking in the beauty before heading back out.

The Trinity River

Overall, this was a solid adventure. I got my fill of adrenaline when we ran into the feral hogs, and I was thoroughly satisfied with the views. I would definitely do this trail again if the mud were to dry.