This past Sunday turned into one of those perfect days where I just couldn’t get enough trail time. That made it a great day for hiking Hillman and Raccoon Creek State Parks. It started with a guided hike through Hillman State Park with the Hike of the Month Club – Beaver County PA, and ended with a spontaneous solo walk at Raccoon Creek State Park’s Wildflower Reserve.
Hike 1: Sprocket & Stallion Trails at Hillman State Park
The first of the two hikes was with the Hike of the Month Club – Beaver County PA. The hike was led by the group leader, Kit, who guided a group of 25 people on a five-mile hike through Hillman State Park along the Sprocket and Stallion Trails.
This was my first experience hiking with this group, and honestly, it was such a great experience.
The trails themselves weren’t particularly difficult, but they were full of cool little moments that made the hike more than just putting one foot in front of the other. Kit took the time to pause along the way to teach us about different types of pine trees we passed, showing us how to identify them. I’m usually more of a “walk and zone out” kind of hiker, so slowing down to actually learn something on trail was a refreshing change of pace.
Paul also shared some history about the park itself—how the land was once strip mined and has since been reclaimed. It’s wild to think about how much a landscape can recover when given the chance.
But honestly, the best part was just getting to walk, talk, and enjoy the woods with a bunch of people who all showed up for the same reason—to be outside. I’m definitely planning to join them for more hikes in the future.
Hike 2: Jennings Trail at the Wildflower Reserve
Even after wrapping up with the group, I wasn’t quite ready to call it a day. On a whim, I headed over to the Wildflower Reserve at Raccoon Creek State Park—a place I’d never hiked before.
I chose the Jennings Trail, named after Otto Emery Jennings, a botanist who started leading field trips to this very spot all the way back in the 1920s. Not far into the hike, I came across the Hungerford Cabin, once the cabin of Cyrus Cotton Hungerford, a political cartoonist who even created posters for WWII campaigns.
This second hike was another easy and relaxing walk, a nice way to explore a new-to-me trail and unwind after the group hike. All in all, it was a great Sunday spent on the trails, and I’m glad I made the time for both adventures. If you find yourself in the area you can’t go wrong hiking at Hillman and Raccoon Creek State Parks.
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