We picked up at trail map at the ranger station when we checked in since we planned on hiking each morning, weather permitting. For pre-planning the park provides a downloadable pdf on their website (https://gastateparks.org/sites/default/files/parks/pdf/trailmaps/ReedBingham_TrailMap.pdf).
The first morning we headed to Little River Trail, and the following days hiked several of the other trails. The seven miles of trails are well laid out, and connect at various points to loop back so you can create your own hike, either short or long.
Birds called and sang in the canopy throughout the hikes, and occasionally they briefly left the cover of bushes or leaves for a brief sighting or photograph. We saw white-tailed deer, who bounded away at our approach as did the cotton tail rabbits. Mid-April means wildflowers, and we saw some absolutely beautiful displays. Boardwalks cover the wetlands area, where dragonflies fly by, but the mosquitoes land so wear long sleeves or use bug spray. Most likely due to cool mornings no snake or other reptiles crossed our path.
Heavy rains for two days prior to our arrival meant large puddles on some of the trails, and muddy areas. For the most part we could bypass the puddles just off to one side or the other without needing to go off-trail.
Each morning we walked a different combination of the trails. We heard and saw the most birds on our short walk along the Turkey Oak trail.
We saved Gopher Tortoise Loop for the last day. We saw on the website that a prescribed burn took place the week before our arrival, and parts of this trail definitely looked like they were part of a recent burn. We walked in the morning, and saw a lot of Gopher Tortoise burrows but no tortoises. Since the morning started cool, late morning or early afternoon would have been a better time so see the them.
We loved our walks each morning, saw a lot, and took a lot of photographs. This park will be a yearly stop for us from now on.
Nichter Photography PLUS 