But it’s day use only, there’s no entrance fee and no gate, so on a recent weekday several people were enjoying the charming little park without the benefit of park staffing.
A Lake Trail follows the shore of the park’s small lake for 1.5 miles, climbing through the hardwood forest of post oak, hickory, elm, sweetgum and pecan, crossing a small bridge and at one point approaching close enough to U.S. 75 to hear cars flying by. Wetland grasses rim the lake, but with the lake down recently there are now several feet of sand and mud between them and the water. At the shallow north end of the lake, aging tree stumps stand guard in the still water. At only 15 acres, it’s probably more of a pond, but apparently the size of the surrounding wetlands can expand considerably during periods of heavy rainfall.
The park’s other path is a two-mile Nature Hike and Bike Trail through relatively open forest and grasslands. At one time, it was obviously the park’s tent camping area. The trail is wide enough for a truck to drive through and, between openings in the trees, you occasionally come across an old tent pad, rusted lantern pole or picnic table, all of them overgrown in tall grass. The trail loops around to the park road near the entrance, but if you want to end where you started, there’s a shortcut back to the trail head across the prairie along a pipeline right of way. Without much forest canopy above, the trail gets fairly hot in summer.
