Report from Justin Fisher author of Explore the Ozarks
Hercules Glades Fall Royal Rangers Quick Backpacking Trip  Explore the Ozarks on November 2, 2025
Cooking around a campfire with great friends and hiking in the beautiful Ozarks with fall colors; what more could a person ask for
Friday night and Saturday made for an amazing weekend down at Hercules Glades Wilderness Area, just east of Forsyth, MO. The evening was cool, but not too cold, the campfire was warm, the fellowship was fantastic, and the day hiking thru the woods and then down along Long Creek was about as beautiful as it gets!

We had a group of eight on this first backpacking trip of the season, including two awesome dogs along for the adventure. (Dogs really are some of the best hiking partners you could ask for) 

Special thanks to Justin Fisher, Rob Batchman and Jennifer for sharing these pictures with us.  Click on a picture for a larger view.  Zip file of all these pictures.  More of the report following the pictures.

 

 

 


I made it to the Coy Bald parking area a little while after dark on Friday evening, and hiked in to the camp site about a mile or less from the parking lot, down the hill to the bottom along Long Creek, where we usually camp in years past. I met up with the rest of the group a little under an hour after they had already gotten there. Tents were quickly set up and everyone was busy gathering firewood when I arrived, and it wasn't long before we were all gathered around the warm and inviting glow of the fire, cooking and preparing our dinners. It was a great evening of telling stories, reflecting on life's journeys, and reminiscing on past hiking adventures. Around 10:30-11:00 or so, folks began drifting off to their tents one by one and settling in for the night. The sky was partly cloudy, but for the most part clear, and a fairly bright moon made for a beautiful cool evening.

Saturday morning we each made our way out of tents one by one, and the fire was quickly stoked and warming us back up again in no time. It stayed about 10 degrees warmer overnight than was predicted, so we mostly all slept fairly good and warm thru the night.

After cooking breakfast and visiting for a while, it was time to hit the trail. We began hiking around 9:00, and spent right around 4 hours out exploring and hiking and just enjoying the area. We headed east from our campsite along the Long Creek Trail, and followed it down and around to the Long Creek Waterfall area. There wasn't any water flowing of the falls, even with recent rains earlier in the week, because it has been so dry for so long. But, there was a good pool of water below the falls, and much of the creek downstream had some water flowing in it.

Instead of backtracking along the trail we came in, we instead like to just follow the creek downstream back to where we camped, as it is much more scenic and there are so many interesting things to see along the way. The overhanging bluffs along the creek are pretty neat, and Long Creek has so many cool rocks in it along the way.

We made it back to camp a little bit past 1:00, and after everyone finishing packing up, we were soon hiking back up that steep hill on the trail back to the vehicles. With the hike in and out from the parking area, plus the loop we hiked along the trail then creek, we put in a little bit over 5 miles. It was a good first adventure for the season, and we're all already looking forward to the next one!


Posted by Mark Jones.