Council Bluff Lake- Lakeshore Trail
Just as its name implies, the Lakeshore Trail follows the edge of Council Bluff Lake. The trail makes a scenic 12 mile loop. The views are pretty, but the rocky trail has many rugged areas.
Distance: 12 mile loop
Scenery: 4 Stars
Difficulty: Moderatly Difficult
Distance: 12 mile loop
Scenery: 4 Stars
Difficulty: Moderatly Difficult
Most hikers will start their hike at the Wild Boar Hollow Boat Launch and Trailhead. From here, hiking counter-clockwise lets you finish with an easier hike. The trail will pass a spur up to the campground about 0.5 miles in. Very soon, you'll hit another spur going up to the campground. After those two spurs, the trail follows the lake down to Telleck Branch. From this stream, there is a half mile long connector going to the Trace Creek Section of the Ozark Trail. After this connector, it is a four mile hike to the Enough Boat Ramp. You will be on all singletrack except for the last mile to Enough follows an old road across a ridge and down through a praire. Right before Enough, you'll cross a bridge over the Big River. After walking through Enough, you will hike four miles to the dam. These four miles are the rockiest and hardest. Lots of times, you won't be able to see the lake from this strech. As you walk across the dam, you get great views of the Big River valley below the dam as well as sweeping views across the lake. One mile after the dam, you will come to Chapel Hill Beach. The beach is a great place to take a swim in the lake on warm days. There are only two easy miles left after the beach to return to the trailhead. The trail has many rocky, rugged sections and some short, steep climbs, but the payback is great views of the beautiful waters of Council Bluff Lake.
Wild Boar Trailhead
For much of the hike, you'll have great views across the lake.
The Dam
Here is a picture of the dam. The Big River was dammed in the 1980's to create the lake. The picture below is the view down the Big River Valley.
Chapel Hill Beach
From the dam, you have one mile of easy hiking to get to the beach.
About half a mile before Chapel Hill Beach, you cross this stream. Once on the other side, you follow a gravel road all the way to the beach.
The final two miles between the beach and the trailhead are nice and easy, but have plenty of great views of the lake you just hiked around.