Smithgall Woods-Martin's Mine

Smithgall Woods is a very nice state park, but most of the "hiking" is actually walking along the Tsalaki Trail, a mostly paved road down the center of the park off which shorter traditional woodland trails are accessed. The Martin's Mine trail is a fairly short loop to a former gold mine mill site and waterfall further on. Unfortunately, the western half of the loop is mostly impassible due to significant blowdown from a severe storm last year. However, the walk around the eastern half of the loop is in good condition and worth the walk to view the waterfall. The Wetlands Loop is a nice, but short side trail that keeps you off the Tsalaki Trail. Despite the mid-summer time, there were a number of wildflowers and interesting vegetative growths to observe along the way. Most of the entire hike had high cover which mitigated the high temperatures.