Mount Baldhead Figure Eight

Dogs No Dogs

Features Birding · Fall Colors · Lake · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

This is not a very long route, but it involves a lot of climbing, as well as navigating roots and hiking on deep sand. It also features beautiful views of the lake and the river.

Park in the Mount Baldhead lot, then climb the stairs (nearly 300). At the top go straight down the dune and shortly after you get to the bottom take the trail to the right (north). Where the North Woods Trail use to end is halfway to where you want to turn. Find the ridge and look for a switchback that will take you up the dune. There's one very steep step, so it may be helpful to have a buddy with you.

Follow the North Woods Trail to the top of Mount Baldhead. Then hike pretty much straight across to the head of the South Ridge Trail. Follow it down to the end and head east on the John A Woolam Dune Trail . You'll find a spot where there are two trail markers relatively close together and between them you'll see another trail heading to the left (north) along the side of a hill.

That's the Yellow Trail (I call it the Forward Movement Trail). Stay on the beaten path if you don't see yellow markers, but it shouldn't be too hard to follow. At the end, hike down Van Dalson Street to Park Stree and take a left. You'll see the Mount Baldhead lot less than 50 yards away.

This area belonged to the Potawatomie Indians before white men took it in the 1830s. In 1898 a group called the Forward Movement bought the land that is now Mount Baldhead Park and it was more or less a summer camp until 2014. The radar tower on top of the dune was part of a Cold War warning system for about 10 years.