Orange Trail

Dogs Leashed

Features Fall Colors · River/Creek

This is a beautiful, mostly easy hike when you have an hour to kill. Ridley Creek State Park is quite popular and can get a lot of foot traffic. I like this trail when I want to avoid the crowd.

The parking lot is on the south side of Gradyville Rd and only a max of 5 or 6 cars can fit. The trail is well marked and easy to follow. It is a looped trail. About 600 feet in, it will fork and start its loop. Hiking left will take you up an incline deeper into the woods. Hiking right will take you along Ridley Creek.

My preferred path is to take the left fork and get a workout going up and back down the hill then finish it off with a peaceful hike along the creek.

After the left fork, the northeastern part of the trail is the most difficult and has several sections dense with roots so please watch your footing. In this section, the hike up the hill and back down will exceed 10% at some parts and may require getting a hand hold on some trees to assist with the ascent/descent.

The part of the trail along Ridley Creek is the easiest and offers many points with access to the creek for our four legged friends to cool off. Also, along this section of the trail you'll have to cross two water run-off points. They aren't a big deal on dry days, but take caution during raining hikes or if there was a good soaking rain the previous day.