Spyglass Hill Trail at Enid Lake
The Spyglass Hill Trail is a 20-mile network of hiking and equestrian trails along the south side of Enid Lake in Mississippi. This trail is on Army Corps of Engineers land and can be accessed from multiple trailheads (see the map below). I hiked the trail the warm winter afternoon of January 27, 2017.
I began my hike from Ford's Well, which is a developed day use area and campground on the eastern half of the trail network. Overall, I found this trail to be much like other hiking trails in the region: wide (often plowed by machines), predominately used by horses, on the same paths as old roads, and very poorly marked, often with many side trails. Cumulatively, I hiked a little over five miles on this trip.
I began my hike by going clockwise on the small loop south of Ford's Well, which passes through forest, cleared areas, and then returned on an old road to the trailhead. From the trailhead it took a fair bit of searching around to find where the trail continues from the far side of the campground, as it follows a fairly heavily used gravel road for a short distance. The trail then turns onto an older road, which was extremely muddy and covered in large puddles in many sections.
After following a split in the trail to the left, the trail passes through a pine plantation and soon enters hardwood forest as it turns away from the dirt road. This section of the trail I found the be quite nice, and soon enough the trail climbs up Spyglass Hill itself. I was hoping to have view from the top of the hill, but the hill wasn't that high and the entire area was forested, so I was only able to get a minuscule glimpse of the lake in the distance.
The most surprising part of the hike was the fact that there was quite a bit of natural exposed sandstone rocks on the summit of the hill. Natural rocks are an extremely rare sight in this area. The summit of the hill is also a primitive camping area with picnic tables, grills, and fire rings so that you can hike or ride in and stay the night.
After the trail descended the hill, it continued on through the hardwood forest and returned into the pine plantation as it looped back towards the trailhead.
Other trails at Enid Lake include:
© Copyright 2017 Matthew Pintar. All rights reserved.
I began my hike from Ford's Well, which is a developed day use area and campground on the eastern half of the trail network. Overall, I found this trail to be much like other hiking trails in the region: wide (often plowed by machines), predominately used by horses, on the same paths as old roads, and very poorly marked, often with many side trails. Cumulatively, I hiked a little over five miles on this trip.
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| The trailhead area at Ford's Well |
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| The trail map at the trailhead |
I began my hike by going clockwise on the small loop south of Ford's Well, which passes through forest, cleared areas, and then returned on an old road to the trailhead. From the trailhead it took a fair bit of searching around to find where the trail continues from the far side of the campground, as it follows a fairly heavily used gravel road for a short distance. The trail then turns onto an older road, which was extremely muddy and covered in large puddles in many sections.
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| The southern loop section of the trail on the stagecoach path |
After following a split in the trail to the left, the trail passes through a pine plantation and soon enters hardwood forest as it turns away from the dirt road. This section of the trail I found the be quite nice, and soon enough the trail climbs up Spyglass Hill itself. I was hoping to have view from the top of the hill, but the hill wasn't that high and the entire area was forested, so I was only able to get a minuscule glimpse of the lake in the distance.
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| The trail follows this road as it leaves the campground |
The most surprising part of the hike was the fact that there was quite a bit of natural exposed sandstone rocks on the summit of the hill. Natural rocks are an extremely rare sight in this area. The summit of the hill is also a primitive camping area with picnic tables, grills, and fire rings so that you can hike or ride in and stay the night.
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| The primitive camping area on top of Spyglass Hill |
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| The trail as it ascends Spyglass Hill |
Other trails at Enid Lake include:
- Beech Hollow Nature Trail
- Persimmon Hill Multi-Purpose Trail
- Quail Run Trail (George P. Cossar State Park)
- Rocky Ridge Horse Trail
- Water Valley Landing Trail
© Copyright 2017 Matthew Pintar. All rights reserved.
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