This past Sunday, my husband, Dillon and I headed out to Wildlife Prairie Park to check out the animals and hike the Floodplain Trail. It’s been a handful of years since we’ve been to the park and last time we didn’t have Dillon, yet, so it was fun for him to experience it for his first time.
We walked about 1 mile through the animal exhibits and Dillon was able to do that all himself. He really loved running around and yelling “hi” to the animals.
We hopped onto the trail back by the butterfly house. It was around 10am when we started hiking the trail, so the grass was still pretty dewy and wet. Our feet were pretty soaked by the end of it because we both just had sneakers on. About half of the trail was grassy and a little taller than I like for hiking. It could have used some maintenance. The “bottoms” portion of the trail was really pretty, though, and bordered a creek.
We got into more wooded areas and the trail was less grassy and more dirt, so that helped with our shoes dry a bit.
It was a little hilly in spots, but not too bad. Nothing a novice couldn’t do. Dillon decided to nap along the way.
We also saw some interesting characters along the way…. We were the only “living” people on the trail when we were there…
The Floodplain Trail is a shared hiking and mountain bike trail. We saw evidence of bike tracks, but did not see any bikers out. We did see lots of cool plants and bugs.
Near the end of the trail (or beginning depending which way you go), you walk past the ponds where a lot of people fish.
After you pass the ponds, you will come out to the road, which isn’t shaded, and you walk along the power lines. It is short and quick at least.
Once we got back, they had a food truck set up, so we grabbed lunch and picked a picnic table with a view.
The trail itself is about 3.5 miles, however, we did about 4.3 total for the day with walking through the exhibits.
Overall, this park and trail is really nice. The trail could have used a little maintenance, but nothing that would deter me from going back. The park offers so many more activities, too. Hiking, fishing, animal exhibits, a train ride, playground, cabins to stay overnight in, etc. You could easily make a weekend of it, there.
Thanks for hiking with Dillon and I!