This adventure was a “green blob on the map” selection. For those of you who are new to The Buckit Blog, one of my favorite ways to find a place to explore is to go on Google maps, and look for green areas. I then zoom in to see the name of the destination and Google that for more info. There wasn’t much info to be found for Turner’s Creek Park so it was sort of a “blind” adventure. To be honest, when we arrived, I was a little worried. There wasn’t another soul in sight and there wasn’t anything interesting looking other than the picnic pavilion.
We checked out the trail map at the parking lot and set off on the only trail we could find. The map was a bit confusing because there are three separate but overlapping entities in the area: Turner’s Creek County Park, Sassafras Natural Resources Management Area, and Turner’s Creek Landing. Because I could not find a SINGLE trail map online, here is the route we took:
The trail is not a loop, but we made it one by walking back along the field. The grass along there was pretty low at the time, but I would not recommend this during the warmer months because it will be a tick nightmare. In fact, I did end up with a tick crawling on me in the car on the way home and it was a chilly day. The only other option for getting back to the parking lot is to walk until you come close to the road and walk back on that (it was very low traffic during our visit) or go back the way you came. For me, going back the way we came is never an option. Not having a loop trail is definitely a con for me but there were a lot of positives that outweighed that unfortunate aspect of Turner’s Creek Park.
Within five minutes of hiking here we found deer and raccoon prints in the sand, lotus flower seed pods and an eagle’s nest with the pair near by. From that point on, I knew this was a successful trip. Along the trail we flipped logs, enjoyed blooming (non-native) mutant daffodils, and found many beaver knawed stumps. The terrain was a bit hilly in spots, so probably not very stroller friendly. We got through it by having the kids get out during the uphill pushing, so if your stroller isn’t off-road worthy, I wouldn’t bring it along. We probably walked over a mile in the loop we created, possibly close to two. If you aren’t too exhausted after that, try checking out the Kent County Museum and the Sassafras Environmental Center on your way home! Both were closed while we were there because we are early morning adventurers but I’d love to hear how they are if you go.
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