Located in the back of Forest Grove Park is post No. 7. Following Wilderness Trail in a clockwise direction you immediately enter the woods along a rolling route through the hilly terrain, a trademark of this trail as much as the numerous marshes and lakes that it weaves past.

 You pass three marshes before passing post No. 8 and then make a steady climb to post No. 9, reached at Mile 0.7. A short spur heads east (left) to connect the post to Wildwood Road. The main trail heads south (right) and begins the most scenic stretch of the loop. Within a quarter mile you’re sidling a ridge high above what looks like a marshy valley below and then come within sight of McGinnis Lake.

 The trail swings east and at Mile 1 you pop out at post No. 10, at the edge of the group campground where there is a hand pump for drinking water. From the campground the trail climbs a hill to almost 1,100 feet where you can look down at the marshy east end of McGinnis Lake and the ridges that enclose the lake. A long descent follows to post No. 14, marking the junction with a trail that heads south (left) for Overlook Picnic Area on Wildwood Lake.

 Wilderness Trail heads northeast (right) at the junction and descends to post No. 15 at Mile 1.8. Here you can follow a short spur north (right) to the marshy shoreline of McGinnis Lake. The main trail continues west (left) and begins with an immediate climb, topping off to views of the inland lake. You skirt ridges above the shoreline before finally descending and popping out at the park road to McGinnis Lake Campground. Use the road bridge to cross the dam that created the lake and on the north side you will spot post No. 1.

 The trail immediately re-enters the rolling woods dominated by pines, skirting a pair of ponds and a vast cattail marsh. Within a half mile from the park road you break out in a grassy meadow and can look down at Stewart Lake and the Groveland Oaks County Park campground. The trail continues north back into the woods, swings within view of a house on Van Road and at Mile 3.4 you arrive at post No. 2 located near the edge of small marshy lake.

 The forest is now more hardwood than pine and the next few miles can be stunning in October. The loop swings east beyond post No. 2, reaching post No. 3 at Mile 4.2 Here a spur heads south (right) to the modern campground at McGinnis Lake.

 The main trail heads southeast (right) where it begins the longest descent of the day, dropping more than 60 feet to bottom out at a marshy pond. You climb briefly before arriving at post No. 5 where another spur, a considerably shorter one, heads south (right) to the modern campground. The main trail swings northeast and threads its way between two cone-shaped kettles and after a long climb skirts a marsh area below. Shortly after the wetland, you return to Forest Grove Park at Mile 5.2.