The Mary Jo Wegner Arboretum combined with the Perry Nature
Area is in the process of a major design and construction phase that will
provide one of the premier park sites in Sioux Falls. Minnehaha County has joined with the city to provide this
combined park site that is now managed by the city.
My wife and I have considered this one of our key hiking
areas within the city, and we visit the site at least once a week most of the
year. The weather in Sioux Falls
has been exceptionally mild so far this fall and hiking possibilities have been
extended. This afternoon, we drove
out to the Arboretum – our third time in less than a week. The temperature was
about 50 degrees, the sun was bright, and winds were negligible.
The major change taking place currently at the Arboretum is
within the redesigned entry and parking area. The Mabel and Judy Jasper Educational Center is in the final
phase of construction and provides a focus for visitors to the site. Interpretive
signage is in place around the structure offering an historical overview of
East Sioux Falls.
Our hike began in the parking lot of the Center and headed
east along the old railway bed leading toward the steel building housing the
Fraternal Order of Police.
From the road running between the FOP building and the Big
Sioux River, a trail leads down onto the large field to the north. A pathway runs along the perimeter of
the field with the river visible through the bare trees.
This field road or pathway leads around the field to the
west. An old bridge over the Big
Sioux River is visible within the woods; the bridge is now privately owned and
not accessible. The park border
extends to the shore along the river, but Iowa land is across the river and the
bridge now belongs to a property owner.
There is a line of woods between the fields that are part of
the arboretum/nature center and the river, and we hiked through these woods
along the bed of a draw that probably runs with water during the spring or in
wet years. Now, it is dry and
filled with fallen leaves within a grove of bare trees.
We made our way through the trees for a time and then exited
the grove onto the second field/meadow on the western end of the site. There was a pathway/field road along
the edge of this field as well, and we continued along until we reached a creek
flowing under the main gravel road that runs through the Perry Nature
Area.
There is a picnic shelter provided just off the road and
adjacent to the creek running through the area. We generally stop at this shelter for a break during our
hikes. This is generally where our
elderly miniature poodle takes a few sips of water while we are seated at one
of the picnic tables.
Our hike route then takes up south across the creek again
and along a trail heading west through a lowland section. This is a part of the park that is
especially popular with area birders.
The trail passes the remains of a home from many years
ago. This part of the hike passes
through private property that is not a part of the park, but it is regularly
used by hikers as they move through the woods and back up onto the old rail-bed
pathway.
We moved east along the old elevated rail-bed pathway toward
the entrance to the park. This
pathway runs parallel to Highway 42, with the highway on the right side and an
overlook through the woods into the main part of the park on the left.
This section of the trail ends at the road leading into the
park. Turning left, one can
continue along to the shelter at the top of the hill.
Our hike this afternoon took about one and a-half
hours. It was really a great
stroll through a varied landscape.
This a wonderful time to hike the trails of the
arboretum/nature area, a time before the snow covers it all for the next
several months. Even then, however,
I like to use this setting for snowshoeing. There is plenty of open space for snowshoeing in a variety
of terrain. My old rawhide and
wood snowshoes from yesteryear are hanging in the garage ready for the first
winter hike over snow covered fields, trails, and along the river.
For those interested in how my current observations compare
to those made a year ago, please check out the narrative identified in the
index of area hiking possibilities listed on the right side of the blog.
The complete set of photographs taken on the hike today can
be seen on my Flickr page at the following URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jayheath/sets/72157632170631469/
