Dana Peak Park Log Entries

Dog Friendly with great views and some challenges
User: Kat Person - 1/5/2013  [View Log Page]
Rating: Difficulty: Solitude:
Distance: 4.00 Miles Duration: N/A

There are dogs all over this park but most people appear to have cleaned up.  The main trail is just a gravel road down to the lake.  You can detour up a hill and find yourself on Dana Peak,very rapidly.  Hang left on the way up to get the best vistas while walking.  The hike off the peak is a bit steep in places and you may need to look down a bit to keep your footing.  Back on the mail path, go up the hill and hang a left for a detour that will feel like you are trespassing on someone's private farm  No real views there but the light through the overhanding trees and a few moments of open grass area make this hike special and very quiet. 

Park now open again and a great fall hike
User: merindab - 10/7/2010  [View Log Page]
Rating: Difficulty: Solitude:
Distance: 2.00 Miles Duration: 2 hours

This park opened again this past summer. There's free parking near the firebreak trail. If you go a little further down the road there's a place for boaters to pay, but  you can just ask for a trail map and turn around and park where it's free.

I went this morning as there is little to no shade. Saw a bunch of deer and a monarch butterfly. There's also a little creek sort of place that crosses Fire lane with just a board to get across the mud, but it's not bad. As a bonus as of right now the very shallow pool is teeming with tadpoles.

I was alone pretty much the entire time I was out. I was passed by one biker and as I was heading to my car a lady was just coming in with her dog.

Edited to say free maps are availble on http://www.centraltexastrails.org/index.html

PARK CLOSED!
User: BrownMJ127 - 11/18/2008  [View Log Page]
Rating: Difficulty: Solitude:
Distance: N/A Duration: N/A

The park was damaged by a flood in 2007.  I learned from a Ranger that the park will be closed until 2010 when the repairs are estimated to be complete.

Nice Peak
User: jsr59jsr - 4/21/2007  [View Log Page]
Rating: Difficulty: Solitude:
Distance: 3.00 Miles Duration: 3 hours
Kind of a small place right on the lake. Close to town nice when time is short.

Fast Ascent Up the Peak
User: onemoreguitarist - 6/29/2006  [View Log Page]
Rating: Difficulty: Solitude:
Distance: 2.00 Miles Duration: N/A
I parked at the foot of the peak and hiked up. The ascent happened rather fast but was an enjoyable challenge. Being my first time I was unaware the trail I was on was all downhill from there. Definitely worth going back to and exploring some more. Which I will do. OK, I returned today (a week later) and had a great time. I took a right instead of a left after the first peak and found my way to three other peaks. Trail T-2 gets really hairy though with weeds up to my head at certain points. I saw three deer and an interesting lizard about 8 inches in length. I got a little turned around with the criss-crossing trails but keeping an eye on the peaks kept me aware of my direction. All in all, if you are in the area, well worth the exploration.

Fence Line/Twister Trails
User: seejanplay7 - 12/30/2005  [View Log Page]
Rating: Difficulty: Solitude:
Distance: 5.50 Miles Duration: N/A
A beautiful day for hiking! Apparently the cyclists and deer had the same idea ... I saw several while on the fenceline trail. The fence line trail begins as an old ranch road but quickly turns into a deeply rutted path. Some of the ruts are up to two feet deep! This trail winds through a dry creek bed before connecting with Twister Trail at "Mother's Vista", a granite plaque with a bench on private property placed by her children ... a sweet and touching memorial. Twister Trail forks to the left and is so far the best-marked trail I've found in the park. This was a fun trail to hike with alot of terrain variety. It also appeared to be one not often traveled. One cool feature was the mixture of "fossilized shells" & rocks ... a great "discovery" for the young archeologist!

Twin Peaks Trail
User: seejanplay7 - 12/10/2005  [View Log Page]
Rating: Difficulty: Solitude:
Distance: 5.00 Miles Duration: N/A
I hiked the Twin Peaks trail from the main trailhead, down the firebreak, and around the peaks. This trail is fairly level and does not venture up on to the peaks, however there are side trails available to do so. The hike was beautiful walking along the lake, around the peaks with changing foilage, and clear blue skies. Amazingly, there was no one else on the trail. Trails markers can be confusing, take your map.

FIfth time at the geocache!
User: jennyj - 7/22/2005  [View Log Page]
Rating: Difficulty: Solitude:
Distance: 1.00 Mile Duration: N/A
My son and I discovered this geocache purely by accident April 2004...we go back every couple of months/the hike is steep but brief really/you can always spot deer bucks and fawns sometimes/ Oh the last visit this one on the 22nd some horrid person had left a very rude photograph in the geocache...I adsconded with it and hope this person stops their idiotic vandalism/Peace

Fun, easy hike
User: elarsen - 3/30/2003  [View Log Page]
Rating: N/A Difficulty: Solitude:
Distance: 3.00 Miles Duration: N/A
There are a few trails to take off on and hike around. Breaking off on different trails can easily take most of a day and more than a few miles of fun. Although there are inclines and declines in elevation, it is not by much at all. A good portion of the trails are rain run-offs, but others are somewhat wide paths used by the horses/bikers/hikers alike. All in all a very fun area to hike.

TVA Reunion Event
User: Eveline - 3/5/1995  [View Log Page]
Rating: Difficulty: Solitude:
Distance: 12.40 Miles Duration: N/A
We had lots of company out on the trails.