We chose this trail, to Lake Wallace, because it seemed a good alternative to the popular Wallace Falls trail and we wanted more distance. The Fall foliage hasn't turned yet, but it was a lovely hike on a beautiful Fall day! This trail is wonderfully maintained and moderate.
We arrived at the parking lot about 9:30am and hit the trail about 9:45am. There were about 15 cars in the lot.
We found some of the trip description on the WTA site a bit confusing, but the signage along this trail is very clear. The trail started on a wide gravel access road. In about 1/4 of a mile, there is a choice to fork left and take the Railroad Grade trail to the lake or the main trail to the Falls (sign says "Woody Trail"). This isn't noted on the WTA description. I forgot my trekking poles so we thought the Railroad Grade sounded like a good plan.
We hiked up the Railroad Grade trail, passed two spur trails on the right that led from the main Wallace Falls trail. Reached the the 'Toilet facility' (actually just a nice pit toilet) and headed up the Greg Ball Trail. As noted, a lovely trail meandering through soft mossy understory, second growth forest with many old stumps still there from the logging many years ago. There are some areas of huge blowdowns along the trail, one looked like a pile of pick-up sticks and we wondered if that all happened at the same time! All were cleared from the trail.
Reached the DNR road, turned right and easily found the Greg Ball trail/road now on left. Made it to the lake, but my hiking buddy was worn out and we stopped for our lunch break at first site of the lake and didn't go the extra 1/2 mile to the beach. We rested a bit and began the hike back.
We noticed our milage was going to be greater than the 8 miles noted here on WTA. Read on a posted trail signs that the Railroad Grade adds 2 miles! On the way back we took one of the spurs to the main Wallace Falls trail, to cut mileage, because my friend was tired. I wished i had my trekking poles in a few areas but all in all it was doable without them. Our total mileage was 10.25.
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