Cloudland Canyon State Park

Ranking: Easy Pie to Difficult

Clouds, clouds, everywhere! This sums up Cloudland Canyon to me. After parking, you will be greeted by an assortment of trail signs and options for hiking. When we visited this park, we opted for three different trails. The Overlook Trail, West Rim Loop Trail, and the Waterfalls Trail (that or it was the Sitton’s Gulch Trail). Due to the scorching heat and lack of a cool breeze, my memory is a bit hazy about that last hike of the day. Although it was a sunny summer day becoming more and more crowded as the day rolled on, the trails were great. As most of you know, the further you hike, the more spread out everyone becomes. So the summer crowd wasn't too bad! Now let me break down each hiking trail a bit further.

      The Overlook Trail is a must see for all. This particular trail is the one I rated easy pie due to it is very short and is all one level. There aren't any intense hills or for that matter stairs. If you are wanting to capture some epic panoramic views of the cliffs, then this trail is for you. As seen in the picture above, the view is spectacular. Honestly, it is such an easy trail that I almost wouldn't call it a trail, more like a nice walkway. This particular "trail," we decided to hike midday while having a picnic and people creepin'. If you have the time while you are at this park I would recommend taking a snack break here so you can enjoy the spoils.

       The West Rim Loop is a step up from the Overlook Trail as it does become more difficult than the first. I would recommend this hike if you are looking for something that is not too tough and yet will make you break a sweat. Throughout the trail are vantage points where you can take photos of along the way. This trail is true to its name, as in it makes a large loop, so you can enjoy the views from almost wherever you are.

For our first hike of the day, we completed the Waterfalls Trail (or the Sitton Gulch Trail). After thinking about it, I’m convinced it was the Waterfalls trail that we completed. Let me reiterate again that we went during the HOTTEST month in the entire year. So with that in mind, my description is going to be a little biased. The hike started out like any other, we were ready to go and excited! We started our day with this hike since we wanted to see the beautiful waterfall that it advertised. I’ll go ahead and tell you the best part, there wasn’t one.

     Due to the heat from the Sun, the waterfall was all dried up. Unfortunately, we didn't realize this until we made it about ¾ down when people were telling us to turn back. Confused but determined, we pushed on until we found that the waterfall had indeed dried up. We should have listened to those wise people we passed, but we were stubborn. I mean, we hiked that far, so why turn around when we were almost there, right? It was disappointing I will say, however I have had friends of mine complete it and say it was worth it. If we ever get the chance to hike the Waterfalls trail again, we will not be making the same mistake of hiking in July.