Hiking Team: Dave Miller
Date: April 22, 2025
This one mile out and back trail was 99% boardwalk over six inches of fen/bog/marsh land fed by mineral rich springs. A dozen times I would step on the boardwalk and water would come through the slats catching me off guard and scaring me because I was not expecting the sound or the lapping of the water under the boardwalk. At the beginning was a wet forest – dogwood, cottonwood and sycamore trees. The trees gave way to open areas after that. Beaver Creek ran parallel to the right of the boardwalk (Photo#3). There were several turnouts with benches to look for birds and wildlife in the fen or in the creek. The sounds of the wetlands drowned out urban noise. The entire hike a could here dozens of birds and frogs and smell the springtime fragrances of flowers and plants.
Signs indicated that over 470 species of plants and wildflowers grew along the boardwalk including lots of skunk cabbage and marsh marigolds (Photo#4). In the creek I saw geese and turtles (Photo#5) but no beavers. It was an enjoyable hike.
