Salt Run Trail

Salt Run Trail is a 3.3-mile loop through the forested Kendall Hills, dipping into wooded ravines and climbing back out. Plan on about two hours. Repeated short grades, rough dirt-and-gravel tread, and stair flights make it a moderate-to-difficult outing with more effort than the mileage suggests. This is the choice for a hilly forest walk, not a waterfront circuit around Kendall Lake. A signed Salt Run shortcut makes a shorter loop of about 1.8 miles; Lake Trail is the separate, easier shoreline walk.

Park at Pine Hollow Trailhead off Quick Road. The Salt Run entrance starts on the left side of the lot when you're facing the hills, so look for its sign before walking downhill toward the lake connectors. The route first crosses the open top of Kendall Hills, then enters the woods. Follow the outer Salt Run circuit for the full distance; a marked cut-through shortens it. Late-summer flowers and butterflies add a seasonal touch around the open meadow, a break from the shaded forest below.

The first stretch climbs through mixed oak, hickory and beech, with darker white and red pines in the mix. Around a mile in, the trail passes White Oak Spring, then rolls through wooded ground and drops toward lower ravines. The forest alternates between tight, brushy path and wider patches where the slope opens. One stretch near Truxell Road is close enough for traffic sound to carry through the trees.

Short wooden bridges cross drainage channels. On the return half, a bridge leads into the longest stair section, a 90-step wooden flight without a handrail. A shorter dirt stairway appears elsewhere on the loop. Roots and loose ground make the descents the places to watch your footing, especially when leaves cover the tread. Beyond the long climb, the path levels briefly among pines before the last rise back to Pine Hollow.

The name ties to the landscape: in 1934 and 1935, the Civilian Conservation Corps dammed Salt Run to form Kendall Lake. The lake was built as a recreation spot for swimming and winter skating and tobogganing; today it draws anglers and walkers. The lake itself is not on the Salt Run loop, but its separate trail is an easy add-on if you have time after the hills.

Pine Hollow was farmed in the 1800s before industrialist Hayward Kendall assembled valley land as a retreat and gave it for a park named for his mother, Virginia Kendall. The Civilian Conservation Corps planted white and red pines in the 1930s to speed forest recovery. Those dark stands now punctuate woods of oak, hickory and beech reclaiming former fields, while the upper meadow stays open for flowers and pollinators.

Pine Hollow has a large parking lot, flush restrooms, drinking water, picnic tables, benches and an information kiosk. Fill bottles and use the facilities before starting; no route-side water or food service was found. Dogs may join the hike on a leash no longer than six feet.