Island Lake Recreation Area, Brighton, MI
June 19, 2010
On this last free Saturday for a while, unencumbered by obligations, we went to Island Lake Recreation Area in Brighton, Michigan. We've never been there before, even though my husband and I have lived in this area for 5 years. (I've actually lived in this area for 9 years.) We've been to Kensington Metropark many times. That's north of the freeway. Island Lake Recreation Area is directly south.
It's quite a large park with lots to see, but since it's called Island Lake Recreation Area, we decided to stop and see that lake. First stop, Dodge Picnic Area. Just beyond here is Island Lake. There's a little pathway there, which we took next on our journey.
On this last free Saturday for a while, unencumbered by obligations, we went to Island Lake Recreation Area in Brighton, Michigan. We've never been there before, even though my husband and I have lived in this area for 5 years. (I've actually lived in this area for 9 years.) We've been to Kensington Metropark many times. That's north of the freeway. Island Lake Recreation Area is directly south.
It's quite a large park with lots to see, but since it's called Island Lake Recreation Area, we decided to stop and see that lake. First stop, Dodge Picnic Area. Just beyond here is Island Lake. There's a little pathway there, which we took next on our journey.
When we went down some steps to get to the pathway, there were picnickers at one of the lookout picnic areas near the lake. We decided to take the path to the left and not disturb them.
Here are some wildflowers along the path.
Another view of the lake, with the small island in the center of your view. That white thing on the side is a boat. Yes, you are not seeing things, that is a picnic table in the water closest to us. Looks like this look-out has been washed away.
Next it was on to the next picnic area by the lake. We were hoping for a nicer view. That's the big island again in the background to the right. And, yes, that's another picnic table in the water. The picnic table on shore wasn't in very good shape either (though the geese seemed to like it). It's not a very appetizing place to picnic. Best to eat under the shelter behind us, I think.
There wasn't a pathway beyond this picnic table, but we walked a bit farther down the shore. Here are some views from under a tree near another picnic table. That's a little island in the distance (the lighter shade of green). There are two islands in Island Lake. The big one and the little one. They probably have names, but I don't know what they are.
Some more wildflowers we saw on our walk. You can't tell from the picture, but these are pink. They look like miniature daisies. Maybe wild asters?
Looking to our left. Houses on the lake in the background.
Looking to our right.
Looking straight ahead.
An interesting tree to our left nearby. If we took the grassy path to the left of the tree we would end up in someone's yard. We didn't know where the park ended and the yard began, so we didn't venture any farther.
On our walk back to the parking lot I spotted this interesting tree.
Next it was on to what we thought was another picnic spot by the lake, but the map (or our reading of it) was mistaken. It was just a dead end with a parking lot. So, we decided to check out the beach area and hiking trail at Spring Mill Pond instead. The beach area was crowded! It was a very hot day, so that's no surprise. No pictures of the beach. I don't like to take pictures when there are other people I don't know in them. You'll just have to come to the beach to experience it yourself.
After checking out the beach from afar (no, we didn't get our feet wet), we decided to take a short hike. A very short hike. It was at least 90 degrees at this point and the hiking trail had no shade. I stopped here and took a few pictures. This is looking back to where we came from.
After checking out the beach from afar (no, we didn't get our feet wet), we decided to take a short hike. A very short hike. It was at least 90 degrees at this point and the hiking trail had no shade. I stopped here and took a few pictures. This is looking back to where we came from.
This is the area a bit farther up the path.
And this is the path we would've taken if the weather was cooler.
Enough of this heat! It's back to the car and back to downtown Wixom for some slurpees! A sweet way to end our interesting day of exploration....
Created by Joyce P. Simkin
Last updated in HTML June 19, 2010
Last updated in Weebly November 20, 2016
Created by Joyce P. Simkin
Last updated in HTML June 19, 2010
Last updated in Weebly November 20, 2016