Saturday, July 26, 2014

Maskepetoon Park

      I live in a small city of 100000 people. We have an excellent park system because some of the early farmers, who had land that was taken  into the city, donated large acreages for parks. I have my favorite parks and some parks I've never been in.

     My friends have told me for a long time that Maskepetoon park was an excellent area. It's an area of river bottom and escarpment. Most of it is excellent native habitat. A small portion was mined for gravel. I finally visited Maskepetoon Park today and it is all my friends say it is and more. There's old growth forest and some of it is dying. There are various types of wetlands. I'm too late to see many flowers but the golden rods were at their prime. All kinds of birds were in the massive amounts of shrubbery. Heavy shrubbery makes it hard to see birds but it makes excellent habitat for them.

    So my afternoon was most enjoyable. As I walked along I also thought of the name. Maskepetoon was a wise Cree chief in the area. He was able to persuade his people to live peacefully with others and so he has been remembered with much respect.

A general map when you enter the area

Typical river scene

Choke cherries

A nice touch for a stairway landing

Some healthy wetland

Trails wind through the area

There are many interpretive signs

A couple of giants bit the dust yesterday in our windstorm

The remains of a giant poplar which is now providing food.

You are in a fen when you read the sign

The trail back home