Trail Review: Fair Hill’s Blue Trail

I have been doing a lot of hikes recently to prepare for my backpacking adventures this summer. While I have gotten better at making sure I am hitting the trails, I have been slacking on writing them up in a timely fashion. My bad guys, I will work on it. In any case, this time around I am going to be giving my review of the Blue Trail, which may be one of my favorite trails to date. It has some very unique features that make it an exciting hike. From the North Appleton Parking Lot, it loops around 3.5 miles back to start. This is according to my FitBit, which rarely fails me.

It starts off by immediately jumping across Appleton Road via a bridge. This is the first pretty cool feature on this trail. I love a good pedestrian bridge over a road. I am not exactly sure why, but it makes things more enjoyable. After crossing the bridge, you are greeted by a wide open rolling hill that takes you down into a forest. For the first little while you are on a double track trail, but then it turns off into the woods for a much cooler adventure.

Once off the double track, you are greeted with this cool river crossing with a clear vision of the trail heading deeper into the forest. Maybe it is the nerd in me, but it gave me some Jurassic Park vibes. It was quiet, except for birds and animals, with mist rising from the water. Very serene. It also makes for a fun feature on a hike. Sometimes staring down at a dirt trail gets tedious. This kind of change up is much appreciate.

Another pretty cool feature is this crushed truck which you encounter about half way through the hike. While it doesn’t give you the “pristine nature” vibes, it definitely goes along with the previously mentioned Jurassic park adventure theme.

Overall Rating: Moderate Challenge

Best Parts: Cool features, like smashed trucks, river crossings, bridges and tunnels.

Worst Part: There is a pretty significant hill in the later part of the hike to get you back up toward the lot.

Views: Pretty cool things to see.

Overall Recommendation: Worth the hike, cool adventurous sights to see and features to experience. Wear long socks and pants for the grassy portions to avoid ticks. Be prepared for some elevation.