A place that Karlie and I enjoyed visiting in Bloomington, Indiana is Griffy Lake Nature Preserve. Griffy Lake is actually a reservoir and the smallest lake in Bloomington. Until the 1950’s it was the main source of water for the city of Bloomington. Today it’s a great place to canoe, fish, and hike.
The Nature Preserve consists of one main trail. It’s just under two miles and winds through the woods and back to the lake and parking lot. Although the trail ends near the lake, we never went in the water. It isn’t that accessible on foot and is better for boats. The trail is mostly flat, although there are some steps and an incline at the start and a descent at the end. Neither of which are too difficult, even for an older dog with mobility issues. The trail is just what you would expect – hard packed dirt with some tree roots and muddy when it rains. There are quite a few downed trees, but most have been cut or moved off the trail. We normally visit on weekday mornings so it hasn’t been busy, however runners do frequent the trail. It’s a beautiful hike through the woods and quite peaceful.
I recently took Sunny on her first adventure to the preserve and she thoroughly enjoyed herself. We nearly had the place to ourselves until the end. Our timing was impeccable as just as we finished our hike an elementary school arrived for a field day. That explained the “stations” and signs we observed at the beginning of the trail. Since the kids were just getting ready to explore in the woods we were happy to have finished our hike.
There is a gravel parking lot that can accommodate quite a few vehicles. Although there is a restroom near the entrance, it has not been open when we’ve visited.
Our Rating
Karlie thinks Griffy Lake is a really interesting place with great smells so we give this trail 3 out of 4 paws up. This was one of Sunny’s first adventures so she rated it one thousand, but she doesn’t have the context for rating adventures or quite understand the rating system yet.