When on a hiking vacation, one must hike multiple trails per day, right? After hiking the Coal Vein Nature Trail, we drove directly to another trail on my list: the Wind Canyon Trail, a winding path high above the Little Missouri River valley.
It’s not an especially challenging trail – being mostly flat – so the bang for hiking buck is outstanding. With hardly any effort at all in payment, we were treated to gorgeous vistas for the length of the trail.
I was a little worried about whether this path would work for us, to be honest. I have a couple of hikers in the family who are afraid of heights, so I always like to know what the exposure situation is before deciding on a hike. Despite the great views and the trail situated high above the river, this one did not bother my acrophobic family members. The river-side slope was gradual enough that no one felt exposed or had vertigo. Winning!
We were really hoping to see some bison on this hike. There were hundreds of bison tracks in the mud down by the riverbank, so they were definitely around – but we didn’t see any of them (this time; stay tuned).
But this hike was still fabulous even without the bison. I mean – how can you go wrong with those views?
Still on a search for bison, we decided to drive over to another spot that we thought might prove more successful – a small ranch house that provided the trailhead for a five mile loop, and was less than a ten-minutes’ drive away. We’d met an older couple on the Wind Canyon trail, who told us they had seen bison there that very morning.
We didn’t want to do the whole loop – not realistic with the small hikers – but we decided to walk down to the riverbank and see what we could see.
Plenty of sage along the trail! I love the smell of sage – one of my favorite things ever.
Little Missouri! (Note: I am not keeping the name of this hike a secret, I swear. I forgot it, and despite extensive googling I can no longer find it. And that’s also why I am not devoting an entire post to this pretty walk. If you’re in TRNP, it’s in the South Unit and there is a white house and a small parking lot, and that’s all I can remember. Sorry!)
Here’s a pretty riverbank picture to make up for my poor memory.
Despite no bison, we enjoyed our riverbank sojourn. We watched two hikers who were hiking the full five-plus mile loop cross the river (they had a good-natured argument over whether to take their shoes off or not – one did and the other didn’t), and the boys practiced their fastballs and sliders.
I love to build a little unplanned time into a vacation and this is a great example of why – we didn’t intend to do this walk; it was a spur of the moment decision that worked because we didn’t have anything else to do, and it was a lovely interlude to wander around the riverbank and do some splashing.
Next week: we visit the park’s cutest residents! Check in with me then.
covered in flour 
I keep thinking that Nugget will be ready to take on longer hikes soon, between his natural athleticism and his high energy levels. I know you’re familiar with my son’s exploits, but he is older, of course. But my nephew is quite close to Nugget in age (A will be 8 next month) and he has been up several high peaks already. Did you see my post on Gothics, Armstrong, and Upper Wolf Jaw? [Note: that route will not work for Steve, too exposed.] Kids can do amazing things! Maybe it is Peanut who is reluctant, haha! But you are having great success getting her kayaking and skiing, so that is promising.
And thank you for sharing these pictures, because you are right: this trail is absolutely gorgeous! I have a natural bias against trails so short and would probably ignore something like this completely, so I am grateful to you for sharing how wonderful it really is.
You’re right that Peanut is indeed the reluctant one, usually. 😉 Nugget is gradually increasing his distance and definitely has the athleticism to do more, but he is also prone to bonk if he doesn’t have enough snacks (as are we all…) and I’m still figuring out the right interval of trail time, snacks, breaks, etc., as he grows.
As for short trails, I get it! I definitely want to maximize my trail time too and it feels silly to drive a long distance for a short trail. Stringing a few together or combining them for a multi-hike day has worked well for my family, allowing us to experience different scenery in the same mileage and also giving us some natural points for an out if someone decides they’re over it.
Ahh, yes, the bonking. We are all susceptible to that, for sure. I find that on very strenuous hikes, I do the best if I stop for a small snack about once per hour and skip a big lunch on the top. This is *very* hard to enforce, even for just myself, because no one is hungry that often and there is a natural tendency to want to push on to a viewpoint, milestone, or other more natural break spot. However, it does prevent crashing.
And I do better with real food rather than bars, trail mix, or jerky. If I am organized enough (haha) I will bring a bunch of produce, which makes it easier to eat more frequently because a handful of grapes, for example, isn’t very filling but is very satisfying. Then some other more filling stuff, too, to alternate snacks and/or have at a summit. I absolutely love to slice then pan fry halloumi and bring it on a long hike. It holds up beautifully and the natural saltiness of the cheese really hits the spot when you’ve been sweating a lot. My kid is not enlightened enough for sheep cheese, though, so it might not work for yours either unless they are more adventurous eaters.
Don’t forget hydration! They make small hydration packs for kids – I think the one I got my nephew only hold 1 or 1.5 liters. I bet Nugget would love one of those and would probably drink more, too. I resisted using these for years because I was skeeved about cleaning them, but I finally caved and they are great for kids. I keep them in the freezer when not in use to slow down the growth of anything funky.
Good tips! We definitely need to try more real food – I tend to pack things like applesauce pouches, turkey jerky and olives. Do you listen to the 46 of 46 Podcast? The host’s descriptions of his “summit sandwiches” eaten on various Adirondack peaks always make me so hungry! I’m definitely going to look into the kiddo hydration pack, because N would love to have his own, but hydration is not our issue (it’s hunger, and to a lesser extent, boredom when hikes drag on). Steve always carries water and stops everyone for regular sipping breaks. E is a camel and would go days without drinking anything if we let her, but N is a water-drinking machine. We usually end up cutting him off so he won’t become over-hydrated. (He has always loved his water. When he was two, his nanny texted us to tell us he had been lecturing her in his baby voice: “It’th important to thtay hydwated, Telly!”)