Devil’s Backbone Nature Trail / Overlook: Inks Lake State Park

Our family hopped in the car last weekend around 7 a.m. with temperatures near freezing to drive out to Inks Lake State Park for the day. You can find general details about the park, as well as a variation on this hike, in a previous blog post.

Arriving around 8 a.m., we parked next to the trailhead (GPS: 30.745578, -98.360457) for the Devil’s Waterhole Nature Trail and, after bundling up against the cold, we started our hike. Here is a link to the park trail map; we began at the parking area next to the purple dashes. The trail is wide, flat and double track for the first 0.2 miles, which leads you to the Devil’s Waterhole (above). We were glad to see a newly installed emergency call box, which seemed like an excellent addition given how popular this area is for swimming and jumping from the bluffs during warmer weather.

At the swimming area, the Valley Spring Creek Trail begins on your right. You have two options: head straight up the hill (blue arrow) or take the path to the right (yellow arrow). The path to the right offers a more gradual ascent and is mostly shaded as you walk through the woods. The path up the rocky slope is the slightly more challenging option, but it can be easily managed – and because our son loves climbing on rocks, it was an easy decision for us as he started running up the hill when we presented him the two choices. The path up the rocky hill also takes you on the portion of this loop trail with views of the creek and lake. The trail shifts to mostly single track for the rest of the way, alternating between hard-pack dirt and rocky portions.

At the top of the hill there are some larger boulders on the left, which you can climb up to have a view of Spring Creek as it flows into the lake. This is where we viewed the sunrise a few years ago, as described in the blog linked above. This weekend, we stayed on the Valley Spring Creek Trail as it runs along the ridge above the creek, offering multiple opportunities to view the creek from various overlooks.

The Devil’s Backbone Nature Trail begins where the Spring Creek Trail starts to loop back to the Devil’s Waterhole. While the creek trail loop is an enjoyable hike by itself, I’d recommend continuing on the backbone trail for the excellent views of the lake — particularly the one from the rocks where swimmers jump into the water in the spring and summer. And if you want to do the entire creek trail loop, then you can take that a left at this intersection on the way back from the Devil’s Backbone overlook. Less than 200 yards from the start of Devil’s Backbone Nature trail, you’ll come to the State Park Road 4 where you’ll cross the creek underneath the bridge as seen above.

This section alternates between wooded and open air sections, and there are several side trails that you can take to view Spring Creek at multiple points. There is some elevation change, but it is mostly gradual, with the only somewhat steep portion being a descent to the bluffs above the Devil’s Waterhole.

After roughly 0.33 miles you’ll come to an overlook with a bench that looks toward the lake and the swimming area (above), and then maybe 0.1 miles up the trail from there you arrive at the bluffs where swimmers jump into the water (below).

This was our turnaround point after we sat and enjoyed the view, but the trail continues for another 0.5 miles or so along the lake, ending at a road / parking area near the bird blind. Keep in mind that this is an out-and-back hike, so you’ll need to take the same path back to the parking area at the start of the Devil’s Waterhole Nature Trail (unless you have someone available to pick you up at the parking lot by the bird blind).

I’d recommend this hike for pretty much anyone, as it has plenty of shade, there are multiple places to turn around if you get tired, it is popular and well-trafficked in case you needed help, there are only a few, brief portions that are steep, and you have an opportunity for excellent views of the rolling hills, the creek and the lake from multiple points along the hike.