Explore the most popular walking trails near Chatsworth with hand-curated trail maps and driving directions as well as detailed reviews and photos from hikers, campers and nature lovers like you.
Awesome change of scenenry along a short 8 miles! It was more difficult than I expected....but I based my expectation off of the State Park Trail Map. It had the completion time for the 1.2 mile flat gravel trail around the lake at 1 hour. It had the completion time for the Gahuti trail at 5 hrs for 8 miles...it actually took me 5 full hours. Lots of ups and downs. I saw a lot of squirrels and a family of raccoons. The lake trail and the wall trail are not actually part of the g
Gahuti but I did those as well. When you are in this park it doesn't feel like you are in the mountains at all...untill you get to the overlooks! Reminded me of the Cloudland Canyon west rim trail.
Beautiful trail. It is hard, but doable with plenty of rest stops.
Short trail but rocky.
We took the yellow trail. It was moderate/hard on the north side due to the rocks you had to step up on and at a few points the trail is narrow. Make sure you head to the scenic over look it’s beautiful.
Took my 3 year old and dog. it was a good short trail for them. After our short hike we found the play ground and a cool overlook spot to see the mountains. Cost $5 to enter park.
Easy hike!!
This is a lovely trail but only a few spots on east side of loop with relatively easy access to the water. On this day, nice breeze on east side, but none on west side. Day after, dog can barely move. Good boy!!!
It's a nice trail. I took my dog, who is Tri-paw and she handled it well. it was enough of a challenge to give her a workout but didn't wearher out.
Great trail! Lots of ups and down to keep your heart pumping and plenty of beautiful views to keep you interested along the way.
This was our first trail to backpack overnight. The scenery is beautiful. It is a pretty hard trail the first 2 miles and the last 2 miles. There are 4 campsites. The campsites just have a flat spot for your tent and a fire pit. The only complaint was that campsite one was not marked and was right on the trail. The trail is a little grown over at places with tall grass and poison oat so be sure to wear appropriate clothing and bring bug spray. This is black bear country so be smart. We will definitely be returning.
my partner and I hiked this trail last weekend, it was cooler and breezy which made the hike very nice. Spectacular overlooks, changing terrain, waterfalls, mountains. We had a great time. We passed about 8 people in the entire 8+ miles, I think half of them asked if we had seen any bears, apparently bears are prevalent at fort mountain SP. We did not see any bears by the way...this is an excellent hike, we would do it again. It took about 4.75 hours to complete, and we stopped for lunch on the trail and at one of the overlooks. We like to hike at a pretty moderate pace.
Loved it
If you want to see the Falls/Cascades first just go in the exit and come out the entrance it’s a short loop!
July 4th hike. No one on the trail, save a mama black bear that would not move and was getting very worked up about 20 feet off the trail near milepost 2. After a couple seconds of primal reaction on my part (neither of us saw one another until the last minute) I tried to look "big", stood my ground for a few seconds then sloooowly walked along grabbing some rocks just in case it got crazy. Will do the bear bells next time just in case. As for the trail, very well blazed, quite varied, and a pleasant escape, except for the section near Gold Mine Trail, which uses an old roadbed. Nice to eat the first blueberries and huckleberries of the season along the western side. Once I got to mile 7 going clockwise I was sad to see it end so soon. Definitely worth a do-over.
If ticks give you the heebie-jeebies then this isn’t the hike for you! I’ve never seen so many ticks in my life. Every time I looked down my pants were covered in ticks. I must have pulled 50 or more ticks off me throughout the hike. So if you plan on doing this hike make sure your clothes are treated or better yet just do it in the winter. Other than that the hike was ok but the ride home was itchy.
TICKS! TICKS! TICKS!!!!!!!! and MORE TICKS!!!!!!
Came to do this trail on July 2nd 2018. My hiking partner came from NC and we hiked from the overlook around the 8 mile loop.
He picked at least 50 ticks off of his pants from the knees the down!! NO EXAGGERATION!!! I have never seen so many ticks in my life! I only found 2 on my right sock. I was wearing shorts, he was wearing pants.
Other than that... it was a great hike and a great workout! I will ONLY return in the winter time! I have named this place in my saved files as “Tick City”
It was things nightmares are made of!
Great Trail, marked well. The park staff is awesome!
I would agree with a previous reviewer, we considered this trail to be on the more difficult side of moderate. We did not start at the overlook and were glad we didn’t. We opted into starting at the park entrance for the 5 mile hike up with the overlook as our reward before our 3 miles out. The views did not disappoint!
It's all about the waterfall. Short walk to get a beautiful cascade fall
Perfect morning hike. Moderate traffic in the AM, picking up around noon. Wild flowers were abundant, flame azaleas, sunflowers, purple cress, fire pinks. Evidence of a beautiful passed spring and promise of an impressive fall. The north face section included a nice blueberry patch. We shared the trail with a bear who minded its own business. We will be back. Not too hard, not too easy, not too long.
Plenty of blooming flora. However, wear pants, poison ivy was pretty tight to the trail. The leaves were out on the trees, so the vistas weren't there, but we encountered two black bears! Hike was a workout, but worth it.
Beautiful trail but youre definitely close to cabins/pavilions/ general development for a good portion of the trail. This could be good or bad depending on your personal preferences.
Used this trail as my introduction to backpacking. What a beautiful trail!
Took my kids when they were pretty young and they had no problem walking the loop. Very pretty Lake.
great trail.
This is a spectacular work out as well as incredibly easy on the eyes. My partner and I started at a nontraditional point and it turned out to be a fantastic decision. We went counter clockwise and finish the hike near the falls. I do wish dogs are allowed on the beach. Now that would be the way to finish the hike.
This is my favorite running trail! Runs along the edge of Carter’s Lake and is a lovely trail. I’ve seen deer multiple times and 1 bear.
The Gahuti is beautiful and campsite #3 has awesome views. The trail is marked with orange blazes and despite what another review said, easily followable.
The first two miles and the last two miles are strenuous.
Starting just past mile 5 there are beautiful creeks with small waterfalls. At the very end you’ll cross the main road then hike down to a observation deck with a gorgeous view. This is easily my favorite trail so far.
Great easy trail. Well travelled so no issues following. We are not the fastest but got it done in around 90 mins. Great views of Carters Lake for much of the way.