Yes trails are the best way to spot them. In our spotting we have not yet found any one area that contains a large amount of camponotus close to the trail but I would just recommend hiking all over in the late evening(after 6 o'clock)
So, the remnants of the 100 year old abandoned quarry near my parent's house is kind of like a very miniature newton hills.
I told my brother last night about some of the SoDak members going to newton hills to find Carpenter Ants and he sends me this later...
That concrete is the patio slab below my parent's backyard deck.
This marks the second time my brother sees a queen ant within hours of me talking to him about ants lolol.
I asked him if he captured it and he said it flew away right after the video quit....
-sorry for the low quality pics, they are screenshots from a snapchat video.
This is a queen right? I assume it's Camponotus. Almost looks like a black wasp too.