I had the day off today so Louie and I thought it would be fun to take a short hike somewhere. He’s pretty swamped with work, so we wanted something nearby, not too long, but still “a hike” rather than a walk. I found Bangert Island in Steve Henry’s 60 Hikes in 60 Miles, and off we went!

It’s a little easy to miss the last turn, so pay close attention. And take my advice, don’t attempt to drive on the Katy Trail. But do check out this hike if you want an easy hike that takes you out of your everyday life and into the woods. It’s in St Charles, and right along the Missouri River. It was cold but sunny, so we just bundled up a bit. The paths weren’t well marked, but we just mostly stayed to the right at every option, and pretty much hiked all the way around. It’s technically an island, I guess, but there’s just a little stream in between and a bridge you can go over easily. They say in high water this is not the place to be. Oh, and a note to readers: the map in my 60 hikes book is out of date, and in retrospect I should have printed out the map online which I now realize is a little different. (And then I went down the rabbit hole, which ended with finding out that there’s a new edition of the book coming out in November, so I’ll have to get that!)

This picture was taken from the little bridge to get across to Bangert Island from the trailhead.

I’d thought it wouldn’t be muddy since it was cold, but that turned out not to be true. It was muddy in a few spots but not enough that we regretted our choices. My boots will be fine after they dry.

I always enjoy seeing the Missouri River up close. I had to work hard to keep the casino across the river out of my shot though.

We took a selfie that I wanted to share here, but it only shows up upside down. This is an occasional issue that I have never been able to solve.  You can look for it on Instagram!

All in all it was a nice 3 or so miles of “wandering around in the woods” and a nice diversion. It was pretty flat so not difficult or taxing, but it was nice to be in a wild area in winter—everything was DEAD and grey and brown, though we did see a fair amount of (live) birds, and a quick glimpse of a really beautiful woodpecker with a red plume! We only saw a few other people hiking, so it felt quiet and pretty deserted.

A downside is that you are really close to the highway and can hear it pretty well on the north side of the island, but it’s kind of fun to be in the woods hearing the cars and feeling a sort of odd separation.

In any case, it was a lovely way to spend part of the afternoon. I would recommend checking out Bangert Island if you want an easy hike to take your mind off life’s stresses.