Black Pond Woods Nature Area Loop
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Black Pond Woods Nature Area Loop had me questioning so many things, like where people can put trails in Ann Arbor, but it was a nice little path tucked behind a neighborhood that posed more of a challenge than I expected from such a short trail. I didn’t have much time this week to find things much longer, and I wanted to get out into nature after a long week, so this was pretty perfect.
You enter the trail between two houses, which definitely threw me off, but it is marked and the trail seems pretty well traveled. You never go too far into the woods that you can’t see the houses, but it still is relatively quiet.
The path itself is just beaten down dirt but it does get pretty narrow in certain areas, so watch your step. There was also a pond you could cross and some pretty challenging hills. We had just had some bad storms, so I also had to climb over a tree down on the trail about a quarter mile (if that) into the hike.
Traver Creek Park
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Then, just a 10-minute drive from this area, I enjoyed another short, 1 mile trek, at Traver Creek Park. I may have actually walked just as long to get to the trail as I did to actually circle the whole thing, but it was peaceful and led to some great shots.
I followed a pair of guys in that were in head-to-toe bug gear (which should have told me something), but it was nice listening to their conversation about the local fora. I ended up surpassing them pretty early on, and enjoyed the colors of the flowers all around me. About half way in, you end up along train tracks, which I didn’t much care for, especially because it seemed that this may have affected the trail’s maintenance, but I also love a good set of train tracks. I was sure to capture them from the top of them on my way back to my car.
Raven K 