Our trip to Lord Hill Park is a annual tradition. This year what stood out was the extreme growth of vegetation.  We all marveled at the amount of growth, don't remember seeing it this lush before. Nice little hike with nice weather and lots of company  on the trails.

Blue skies, fluffy clouds, and sun on the mountains ... vs. work.  You know how that turned out. The woods were calling...

Lord Hill. It always amazes me how such a compact park can seem so large. Keep in mind that it's just under 1500 acres. And yet, there are ponds, lakes, creeks, rivers, waterfalls, meadows, cliffs, canyons, and viewpoints. No kidding. You just have to explore a little.

Took the Midway down and back, with a stop at the viewpoint. I did a little brushing here and there; and the muddy areas are pretty much dried up. In fact, the stream at the southend is only just a trickle right now. Unless we get a couple days of rain soon, it may be gone for the season.

I'm a little puzzled by the "trailwork" on the middle section of the Midway. I don't know why you would want to cut a four foot wide swath through the ferns, and rake all the duff off so the soil is exposed - it's a footpath, not a trail. Takes the charm right out of it. (guess that's the price for being an "official" trail now)

OK, rant over. (for now) I am also curious if WTA will allow trail names in the title for Lord Hill Regional Park - ala Cougar Mountain Regional Park. With so many new trails, and two parking lots, it would be nice to know at a glance where the hike was...

Update (later that day):  ^ guess not...

What can I say about this great regional park that hasn't been said?  There's something for everyone.  Moss draped trees, wildflowers, birds, frogs, views, and ponds.  Today we explored a few different trails.  Along the way we sat down at a bench off the Pipeline Trail to read 'Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel' only to be sidetracked by an adventurous caterpillar.  Then we wandered off to Temple Pond and listened to frogs.  We found three heart rocks, two pyramid rocks, and picked up a little trash.  

On the way home we stopped at Burger Madness - be sure to tell them to go light on the onions!  We'll definitely be back in the future.

Green, green and more green.

Absolutely beautiful today! Lots of birdsong, mushrooms, ferns, flowers and foliage. There are a few areas that could use a weed wacker but for the most part it’s just lush with spring greenery.

I made a nice loop today, starting with the Bordwalks, then the Beaver Pond, Red Barn, Temple Pond, Pipeline, viewpoint, Midway, back to Boardwalks and up to the lot. 

Even though the lot was full, I only saw 3 groups of people today.  This may be the most beautiful time of year to visit Lord Hill.  Go!

My last visit to Lord Hill was on a rainy, cold, miserable, muddy December day.  I thought I'd try again on a warm day with brilliant sunshine.

Even on such a nice day, the trailhead was far from busy.  The place is a mze of trails, but I decided to keep it fairly simple.  I followed Main and Pipeline trails across the park to the south trailhead.  I looped back along the Quarry/River Overlook trails, and took the side trail down to the river.  Back up to the Main trail, down to the Pipeline, and then north again on the Pipeline back to the car, stopping quickly at the "viewpoint" (which is fairly pleasant.

This hike is so close to home and is perfect for those days when I'm extra short on time.  It really is not super scenic, but is a nice forest walk for those days when you just need to have a nice forest walk.  I have a feeling that fall will be the best season for this trail, so I'll be sure to swing by then.