The Lake Mansfield Recreation Area boasts two main attractions directly across a narrow road from each other.
First is the lake itself -a gorgeous 29-acre pond with a strip of sandy beach front, grassy shaded picnic area, benches and swings.
On the other side of the road is a forest with a network of forest trail walks. The trail is mostly flat and made of crushed stone.
We parked by the main entrance at the beach and headed north on the well marked Main Trail before we peeled off to the right to walk the Loop Trail which eventually rejoined the Main Trail and took us back to our car.
It was peaceful and tranquil today as the only other soul we saw was a young lady jogging along to her music.
It was gorgeous out there- the trees were bare of leaves in preparation of the inevitable harsh winter and we agreed it was one of the better hikes we'd had in a while.
One cool thing we saw on the Loop Trail was a humongous boulder off on the side of the trail. It appears on the trail map as (you guessed it) "Boulder". read more