Woodlands Trail

TRAIL MAP: Woodlands Trail

There are four sections to the Woodlands Trail.

Section one

The first section begins at the patio between the two Woodlands buildings, leads eastward down the grassy hill, across the Woodlands Pond dam, up to the northeast corner of the tree line. As your enter the trail at this point, the Woodlands to Babcock House Connector branches right/eastward up the hill to the Babcock House. The Woodlands Trail continues toward the left/north along the side of the hill.

Section two

The Woodlands Trail winds north around the hill and exits to the lakeside, back lawn of the Babcock House.

POINTS OF INTEREST

• As you cross the lawn, on the left shoreline of Babcock Lake you can see the remains of a pier

• Along the shoreline, you can see some wood duck houses on poles.

• On the right side of the shoreline, you get a closer view of Lake Island.

• You can see the Fishing Pier on the other /north side of the lake.

The trail crosses the lawn and enters section three of the trail on the opposite/eastern side of the lawn.

Section three

This section is more difficult than the other three sections as it winds along a steep hill high above University Creek and below and behind the Babcock House.

CAUTION: this section of the trail has lots of small hills and dirt mounds on the side of the big hill that can be slippery when wet. At one point there is a steep dropoff with a wide vista of the valley below with a protective cedar railing.

This section exits into the southwestern side of the Meadow Corridor.

The trail crosses the corridor and enters section four of the trail on the opposite/eastern side of the corridor.

As you cross the Meadow Corridor, a mowed path leads southward up the hill and connects with the northern end of the loop of the Wildflower Loop Trail.

Here are a couple of points of interest along this section of the trail:

Cedar Handrail

For the safety of trail users, the Trail Keepers built a cedar railing along this section of the trail using fallen cedar trees found in the woodlands.

Stepping Through Time

Next to the handrails is a massive fallen oak tree that crashed to the ground in April 2022; the fall was heard and felt by some residents. The tree completely blocked the trail, so the Trail Keepers removed a section of the truck so trail users are able to walk through it. As you walk through the passage, you can see the rings in the crosssection of the trunk. If you count the rings, from the outer edge to the center, you can count back through the years the tree lived; it's like stepping through time. A sectionof the truck beside the passage makes a nice bench on to take a break.

Section four

The trail crosses the Corridor Stream; concrete blocks in the stream make the crossing easier. The trail then winds northeast along the bank of the creek bank and ends at the southwest corner of the Babcock Bridge.