Devil's Den: The Lake Trail

Last weekend, I was ready to be out in some fall weather. But our time was fairly limited. So we hopped in the car and drove on over to Devil's Den. We have been there several times, but I was determined to try a new trail. The Lake Trail sounded perfect. It is 1 mile round trip (not a loop), and is on the "easy" list.

Unfortunately, I failed to read the fine print on the Devil's Den State Park site. The lake has been drained for some repair. Oops!

The path itself follows Lee Creek to Lake Devil (when there is a lake).
The one part of the trail I was really looking forward to was the suspension bridge. I saw a perfect "photo" op in my future. Apparently I didn't read the fine print on that one either. I had totally forgotten about the whole flooding issue we had in the spring when we had some torrential rains. As we approached the bridge, I noticed it looked a little...out of sorts.

Then I realized it was completely taped off due to the debris still left from the floods. No photo ops here, at least not the kind I had planned on. :)

As you approach the dam, you can't help but be struck with the beautiful rocks they used to build it. The water near the dam is typically a blue/green color from what I have read. But for right now, it is a very deep brown.
Here is Lake Devil. Well, where Lake Devil normally would be...
Looking out toward Lee Creek
We saw a lot of what I would guess was flood damage. Even then, it was beautiful. I imagine when we have had more rain, water would be flowing along some of these areas.
On our return to the car, my oldest son remarked how beautiful the trees were lining the path. I agree! He insisted I take a picture.
This wasn't actually on the trail but as we drove away from the trail to visit another one, this guy (about as big as my hand) was crossing the road. I had to take a picture but I did use zoom...it gave me the heebie jeebies!

The trail itself was easy and probably is fairly scenic when there is no flood damage and no drained lake. Very kid friendly. However, it wasn't quite enough for my kids. They wanted more adventure. So we headed over to our usual Devil's Den trail (which I cannot believe I haven't posted about before; I will have to fix that this week) for some rock climbing and more hiking fun.

As I emerged from the end of the trail, I was struck again at how beautiful our state is...especially in the fall!


Happy hiking!
Reba