Review
Describing where and what an East Loop is will probably be one of the most confusing things you will find on this website. The East Loop is an actual official Loop on City of Tallahassee approved maps of Phipps Park. The official route consists of heading down the Main Trail and to Gate B all the way down to the Triangle next to the Sun Field. Then, the official route turns on the Add-On loop and heads back towards Gate A, but almost as it reaches the main trail again the route turns off of the Add-On loop and onto another trail, which leads nearly to the Soccer Fields. However, on the official map, a small side trail immediately adjacent to the Soccer Fields connects the route back to its beginning on the Main trail next to the Soccer Fields. Follow that? If not, you do not have to, because you just need to know what I consider to be the East Loop – that is, the trail I mentioned that connects the Add-On loop to the Soccer Field.
The East Loop, in more simple terms, just connects the beginning of the Add-On loop to the Soccer Field. Yes, I know that is not actually a loop, I know that it is a connector trail. If you want to make it an actual loop just run down the main trail and the Soccer Field, and you will have yourself a 2-mile-long loop.
The main benefit of the East Loop is that it is a unique way of heading back to the Parking Lot that does not involve running down the main trail. If you are just sick and tired of the main trail, the East Loop is a way of bypassing the trail where you can instead stick to more remote trails and traverse some more rustic terrain.
The actual terrain of the East Loop is nothing like the other official routes in how rugged it feels. The trail goes from being several people wide like most official major trails to being as thin as a mountain biking trail while also being moderately overgrown at points. This creates an experience totally unlike the main trail, which is probably your goal if you are trying to avoid the main trail. In terms of navigability, there are signs directing you the entire time since it is a main trail, making it not too difficult to follow despite the overgrown nature of its terrain.
Rating: Out of 10