Caswell Memorial State Park, Majestic Oaks Trail

This was a return trip for me and my daughter to Caswell Memorial State Park. Last time, my daughter was not in the mood for hiking, so we mostly hung around the lovely picnic area. This time, I brought my toddler backpack carrier, so we were able to complete a longer loop, going along the aptly named Majestic Oaks Trail!

Despite this being the "longer" loop, the distance was only about 2 miles total, and it was flat the whole way. So, it was still quite an easy hike. We took the Fenceline Trail all the way to Hidden Lake. The eponymous lake was dry when we went. You could see where it would be after the rainy season, and I bet that this part of the park is really nice when there is water.

After making the loop around Hidden Lake, we went on the Majestic Oaks Trail which had some of the most striking oaks in the park. The oaks here reminded me of some of the oaks that you might find in my home state of Louisiana, although they don't get quite as big. Then we took the long way on the windier River Bend Trail, where we saw many of the oaks draped in a wild grape vine which was still in its fall colors. Now that is something that you don't see in Louisiana! This trail brought us back to the Oak Grove picnic area, which is a really great place for a picnic.

We also checked out the Willow Beach day use area for a swimming spot on the Stanislaus River. It looks like campers will set up their own tubing trips to float down from the campground to Willow Beach and then pull out there where they leave a car waiting for them. It's too chilly to be in the water right now, but I bet that this is a lot of fun to do in the summer when it's warm!

So far, we have only been to this park in late autumn and early winter, so I can only guess what it is like in the other seasons of the year, but I fully expect to be back to explore it.