Sage – Redtailed Hawk Loop
A loop trail can be hiked in the northeast corner of Kenna Cartwright Park. The two trails were featured in earlier articles:
Park past the recycling containers at the end of Bunker Road. Follow the Sage Trail along the bluffs, then descend into the big gully and climb to the other side, coming up at the north end of the former Naval Ammunition Depot bunkers. Follow the track northwest, then turn uphill (at a signed intersection) on a steep double track.
Red-Tailed Hawk Trail leads into the main trail system of Kenna Cartwright Park. For this hike, we chose to continue south along Red-Tailed Hawk to the junction of several trails (Ponderosa, Reservoir, and others) where there is an outhouse and now a gazebo and picnic table too, a good spot for a break.
There are number of possible routes to take but for this hike, we chose Doc Findlay (11) and Kinnickinick (32) down to Reservoir (4). Our trail hike ended at Home depot, then we walked back to our vehicles at the end of Bunker Road (1.7 km on the roads). The whole loop is 7.14 km with one good hill up the north end of Red-Tailed Hawk Trail.
This is a good route in any season, but we usually do this in the shoulder season when the higher trails still have snow, ice, or mud. After all, we need a different hike for every time we go out so add this one to your list.
