Sister Grove Park – Princeton
Trails: Sister and Lake Trails
Last hiked April 17, 2022
Trail Type: Hiking & Biking
Distance We Hiked: 5.30 miles
Amount of Time it Took Us: 2 hrs.
Our Elevation Gain: 393 ft.
Park Rating: none
Mike & Elaine’s Rating: easy
Our Notes:
Sister Grove Park is 75 acres of hiking and biking trails located adjacent to Lake Lavon. There are four trails here to try out, all loop-type trails and totaling about 7.6 miles. For bikers it is considered a moderate trail, but we as hikers would consider it a pretty flat and easy hike except for the abundant tree roots that could be tripping hazards if one is not careful.
We started our hike with the Sister Trail (red), which if you complete in entirety is about 2.8 miles. We began this trail counterclockwise at the trail “exit sign”, as suggested at the trailhead, so that we could see approaching bikers. This trail travels in and out of open spaces and forests that are thick with Juniper trees. We were happy to see some wildflowers along the trail and the various hues of green as spring continues to raise its sleepy head.
As we came off this trail we ended up at “The Hub”, which is a trail map for all four trails in the center of the park. From there we decided to take the Lake Loop (blue), kind of expecting to have some views of Lake Lavon. We were disappointed, however, on that end, and instead only had a few views of some pond areas. It was still a nice and peaceful hike, and we certainly were rewarded with an abundance of bird calls and the quiet solitude of nature. We were lucky on this particular day, as there were very few people out on the trails, probably due to the fact that it was Easter Sunday. This trail is about 1.8 miles long, but somehow we missed something along the way and looped around the trail twice! We are still not sure what happened there and walked away a little confused, but enjoyed it nonetheless.
There are two other trails available to hike, the Puppy (yellow) is about 1.6 miles, and the Safari (green) is about 2.2 miles. We did not have the opportunity to hike either of these, but we imagine the landscape is pretty much the same as the red and blue trails.
We enjoyed this visit to Princeton, but wouldn’t say these were the most exciting trails we’ve been on. There is very little elevation change and the scenery is much the same, hiking in and out of wide-open spaces, then into forest areas filled with Junipers, then repeat. We imagine if it is a busy day with lots of bikers, it wouldn’t be the peaceful and quiet place we were lucky enough to experience, so if you are looking for solitude, this may not be the place for you.
Links to Trail Below:
https://www.collincountytx.gov/parks/Pages/sister_grove.aspx