Solitude in the middle of a neighborhood

heatharcadia has not uploaded any photos with this log entry.
User: heatharcadia - 12/28/2017

Location: Copperfield Nature Trail

Rating: 4stars
Difficulty: 3point5stars  Solitude: 4stars
Miles Hiked: 6.63 Miles  Elapsed Time: 2 hours, 27 minutes

Comments:

I just discovered this place. I started at Copperfield Park off of Yager near Parmer and hiked the whole length back to Yager, where I turned around and hiked the whole thing in reverse (I could have continued along Yager back to the park, but I where's the fun in that?). I was out for two and a half hours and only saw nine other people (four groups of two and other solo hiker), so I had a lot of solitude. Even though you never really forget you're close to homes and businesses (sometimes, you are practically in someone's backyard), there is still plenty of solitude.

Most of the trail follows creeks (Walnut Creek and a smaller creek that feeds into Walnut Creek), which had plenty of water in them today. There are several small waterfalls as well, which is nice. It is mostly wooded, so this would provide shade on a sunny day. Around where the smaller creek joins Walnut Creek, there is an interesting limestone wall with vegetation growing out of it and (today, at least) small springs that drip water down it.

The terrain isn't too tough, but it also isn't super easy. There are a few steep portions that would give people with knee problems trouble and one part that is on par of the creek bed which could get slippery in wetter weather.

There are two segments of this trail: The longer segment that runs from Copperfield Park to the Trotwood entrance of the trail and a shorter segment that runs from an entrance on Peggotty Place back to Yager. In between, you have to walk on a street through a neighborhood. The shorter segment of the trail was a lot less interesting to me than the longer segment, especially the last 0.3 miles approaching Yager: This part is just a path between two fence lines.

My phone died ten minutes into my hike, so I only got a couple of not-that-interesting pictures. I will return to take more pictures in the future.