Thursday was a day... that shall live... in infamy. My wife, a friend and I embarked after work to experience this popular mountain biking and trail running destination. The confusion in driving to the actual trail was par for the course, as it took us roughly 40 minutes to make it from downtown St. Louis to the West Tyson County Park (traffic, road closures, and a quick reminder from local law enforce that even adults have to follow "right turn only" lanes).
After taking I-44 exit 266 (Lewis Road Exit), we turned right at the stop sign. The sign to the right of the road for West Tyson Park is easily missed, so stay keen! We agreed in advance that this would be a "BYOP" run, ie "Bring your own pace!" so I embarked on this journey alone. The Chubb Trail marker is a blue tree and it unfortunately took me several miles to figure this important piece of information out.
Runner beware - the first mile of the Chubb Trail offers many opportunities to get turned around, confused and filled with doubt. Fear not, you will survive so long as you follow one simple rule:
Keep. Running.
Also, a word of advice: the "switchback" for this trail is easily overlooked! There is a small sign with a u-turn symbol, stating "Switchback" in blue. This sign is intended to convey a sense of understanding that one should immediately turn a hard left and ascend up the trail running parallel (but in reverse) to the one you were just on. This was information hard learned.
The first 3 miles of Chubb Trail (starting at West Tyson) offers a gauntlet of technical climbs and drops, complete with exposed roots and pitted sedimentary rock outcropping. The trail varied from wide track to single track within this zone.
Leaving behind the technical section, there is a railroad crossing (stop-look-listen!) serving as a gateway to a far mellower, soft, flat section of Chubb. The trail then comes to a fork; continuing forward leads to a "Low Water Section" following a mostly dry creek bed, while cutting to the right will lead to a nice prairie. I was still in a state of confusion at this point and ended up taking the "Low Water Section." DO NOT TAKE THE "LOW WATER SECTION." Does running next to a creek bed sound scenic? Why yes, of course it does. Does battling vicious horseflies for at least 3 miles, then waking up the next morning covered in poison ivy sound romantic? No, no it does not. Nor does it feel romantic. Again, DO NOT TAKE THE LOW WATER SECTION!
A second railroad crossing leads to an open trail that looks like it is was originally intended to be driven on. From this point on, it is pretty easy going, minus one last climb. The last climb offers one last hurrah to your heart rate, as it is long and fairly steep. There are not banners of congratulations at the end, though, just an opening to the large parking area used to access the trail head from Lone Elk Park. Turn around and enjoy the 7 miles you now get to run back ;)
All in all, an incredibly fulfilling run. I completed the 14 miles (+ some extra for getting lost at first) in a little over two hours and made it back to the car just in time for sunset. The memory of the trail will unfortunately be forever marred by the epic battle of the horseflies through the Low Water Section (don't take!), as well as the full body armor of poison ivy rash I am currently battling.
Spottings:
8 deer (7 doe, 1 buck)
1 raccoon
1 fox
LOTS of squirrels and rabbits
Lessons Learned:
-Always wear bug spray
-Bring a map
-Poison Ivy still exists...perhaps short shorts and a tank wasn't the best choice.
I will be back, Chubb Trail, stronger and with less exposed skin!
GORC Trailmap of Chubb
