Hiking Burnt Mill Loop with Maggie May

Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area
October 5, 2024

This is a very pleasant hike with only one small section of any real kind of elevation and would make a wonderful day of slow hiking and frequent stops just to take in nature. The loop itself is around 4.5 miles and then Maggie and I added on a little more by going a little way up the John Muir Trail.

The trail wanders along the Clear Fork River for most of the hike and has many of those rock outcroppings that I like so much. I would get the morning sun popping in and out with all the river views that we came to. It gave Maggie plenty of opportunities to dip in the water to cool off. I bet you could find a good swimming hole on days the water level was a little higher. There were also several good-looking campsites spread out along the trail as well.

Maggie did a lot better on this hike than the one up at Frozen Head, mainly because it was quite a bit cooler. She did, towards the end need to take a little break to try and cool down. She rubbed her belly on the ground and felt bad because we were in a very dry section. A little while later she found a mud hole and decided to roll in that, so it was a good thing there were some more creek spots to clean her towards the end of the hike. I also found out she is like Frank and does not like to take breaks. However, I did force a lunch break on her and she showed her displeasure just like Frank used to.

At some point I would love to combine this loop with the Honey Creek Loop and make a long day hike or break it up with a backcountry night. From what I have read it sounds like there is a waterfall along the John Muir trail that connects the two loops. That could make an incredibly fun trip.

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