Friday March 24th 2023

It was a warm sunny day. There wasn’t too much humidity or wind, but the temperature climbed into the upper nineties. Some places in the area broke the ninety degree mark. It is about a month earlier than the average first 90 degree day.

My mission today was getting settled in and familiarizing myself with Colt Creek State Park. This is my first visit to this park. I believe it is fairly new. The campground and all of the buildings look new. The campsites are all big, level, and gravel lined with both a fire ring and a charcoal grill. The distance between sites is also very good.

The campground is located about 2 miles from the entrance to the park. You pass the main day use area about a half a mile before you reach the campground. The main day use facility is around a series of ponds that seem to have been created by digging out swamp land and and creating raised banks to hold in the water. Further down the main road there is another day use area, an equestrian campground and a group camping area. There is an extensive grid of trails in the park. Most of them are suitable for people, horses and bicycles.

I walked part of one of the trails to get from the campground to the day use area. The trail was probably three times longer than the direct route along the park road, but it was through the woods. The water level seems to be low. The trail followed beside a creek bed that was mostly dry. Once I reached the ponds they seemed to be well below the maximum capacity, but I don’t have a basis of comparison. There were plenty of wildflowers to see along my walk, but I didn’t see many animals. I expected to see ducks or other water birds in the ponds. The only water bird I saw was a single Great Egret hiding in the reeds while searching for lunch.

Late in the day just before sunset, I walked back to the day use area. There are several open areas along the road that I hoped might be a good place to see deer. The setting sun over the pond was pretty, but I didn’t see any deer or other wildlife along the way. I plan to repeat this walk a few more times during my stay.