A Stroll Around Lake Artemesia

I'm embarrased to say that up until yesterday, I have never walked around Lake Artemesia. 

I knew it was there.  I have seen it when riding by on the Metro. I heard it was a realy nice place but I just never got around to checking it out.

So, I decided to track it down and take a walk to see what it was like.  The weather was good for it. Warm with a slight breeze and a bit overcast.  I wasn't going to overheat and keel over.

The first thing I realized is that it really isn't the easiest place in the world to get to. The entrance is kind of off the beaten track which I suppose is good to keep the crowds down.  

Maybe I should take that back.  The entrace to where you can park your car is off the beaten track. There are several other entrances with access to Lake Artemesia if you happen to be bking or walking along the Paint Branch or Indian Creek trails.

Anyway, I dorve up.  Parked the car and walked the 1/4 mile (or so it seemed) to the actual entrace to the Lake. 

What I realized about a quarter way around the "loop" was that I should have taken a  look at the map on the huge sign at the front of the trail. There were a couple of times I almost walked out of the Lake area on down the Paint Branch or Indian Creek trails and them who knows where?  Luckily, I realized what was happening before I got too far off track.

The loop around the Lake is actually pretty pleasent.  It's paved with asphalt (newly resurfaced) so you don't have to worry about mud or tree roots or other obstacles to a solid walk.  It really makes it nice for bicyclists.  There are plenty of benches to rest, lots of gazebos to walk out on and enjoy a closer view of the Lake and fishing.

When I was there, I ran into other walkers, the ocassional runner, bicyclists and dog walkers. A handful of fishermen had staked out spots around the Lake.

The downside for me was how close Metro was. The tracks really do run parallel to a good portion of the "loop" and it's a little distracting when the trains come by. It's also a tad sterile for my taste.  Yeah.  There are plenty of trees.  It's an so I could hear the birds (when the trains weren't coming by). But, it just didn's seem as natural or woodsy or something.

Don't get me wrong. I'm really not the outdoorsy type and I don't really have a ton of other trails to compare it to but it just seemed like it was missing...something.

Still.  If you're looking for a trail that runs about 1.4 miles and doesn't have any "trip" hazards, this is the place.