We had two reasons to celebrate last weekend! First, it was Ellie’s 8th birthday and second, it was National Dog Mom’s Day! I asked Ellie what she wanted to do for her birthday and she said she wanted to go hiking, of course! 😉 We were hoping for sunny and 75 degrees, but Mother Nature had other plans. It was 20 degrees colder than normal and poured all day, but that did not stop us!

We chose to hike at Castlewood State Park which is one of the St. Louis area’s most popular parks. Usually this park is overflowing with hikers and bikers, but the rain kept the crowds away so we had most of the trails to ourselves.

We first hiked the Lone Wolf Trail counterclockwise. This trail has some great scenery. The first part of the trail follows Keifer Creek and then the trail gradually climbs up hill to meet up with the River Scene Trail. The best views in the park are along this trail!

We arrived back at the main parking lot and Ellie and Dexter shared a birthday treat thanks to Nicole! She is so thoughtful!

Since the lower trails were closed due to flooding, we hiked the Grotpeter Trail. The trail follows along the other side of Keifer Creek and then after crossing the road, climbs uphill. There are several connectors that branch off of this trail, but we stayed on the main trail.

By the end of the hike we were pretty cold and soaking wet, but it felt good to be outside. Special thanks to Nicole and Dexter for celebrating with us!