Shawnee National Forest: Indian Point Trail

Indian Point Trail is the third of four trails I hiked over a weekend while visiting family down south.

I had no intention of hiking Indian Point; I didn't even know it was there until I drove past it on the way to Observation Trail. I had some extra time to kill, however, so I thought I'd give it a go.

Trail head

The trail started out a little muddy. It was no doubt hit by the same storms that impacted the Panther's Den trails. It dried quickly as I gained elevation. It starts with a subtle uphill climb. You walk past a small pond, that we'll come back to later. Next, there's a moderately steep uphill climb. The trail levels out as it winds around the south edge of the mountain top with a few places to get really nice views. Unfortunately, the well worn left turn will cut out a good portion of the actual trail which continues on south for a while before returning to the mountaintop. You can see in the map below, the actual trail (a light-gray line) versus the trail I followed in blue. There are no markings indicating that the trail continues on straight.

A view of Garden of the Gods Wilderness northwest of the trail.

The trail has camp sights dotted along it with remnants of campfires. They are close enough where campers cannot really get much privacy from hikers passing by.

Vegetation is a sparse enough that you can easily see through the forest. There is a thin layer of soil sitting on top of the rock, so foliage isn't as lush as some others. The ground is covered with small plants along most of the trail, with more pine needles along the top.

Some of the flora along the trail.

I stopped for some water and a granola bar looking out over a rocky outcrop, and took a little time to sit and enjoy the view to the west.

Soaking in a view of the Garden of the Gods wilderness.

I continued on, and found what looked like a small trail going down the side of the mountain. I headed down a very steep path between the rocks to explore a little. I found some caves in the side of the mountain just under where I was sitting that residue from campfires in them.

There were a few caves like this tucked into the side of the mountain, just underneath the trail. Both had residue from campfires in them.

I went down a little further to where the path exited the rocks and went into woodland, then headed back up to the top.

Time to turn around and head back up. It's a 50' climb from here, and I'll end up at the top just above the tree.

The remainder of the trail is a winding path back around the top of the mountain to the pond, where I picked back up with the trail heading back to the trail-head.

This trail is not overly maintained, and not well marked. There are no blazes or signs, so it's up to you to figure out where to find the trail. It's generally not a problem, as it's well worn, and not easily confused with streams (see my earlier account of the Panther Den hike). As mentioned above, the lack of marking has the potential to cut your hike short.

Details:
Min Elevation: 768 ft.
Max elev.: 928
Distance: 1.37 mi.