Hike Location: Wood Lake Nature Center
Geographic Location: Richfield, MN (44.88132, -93.29001)
Length: 2.3 miles
Difficulty: 1/10 (Easy)
Date Hiked: June 2018
Overview: A flat loop featuring a floating wetland
boardwalk.
Directions to the trailhead: On the south side of
Minneapolis, take I-35W to 66th Street (exit 10). Exit and go east on 66th St. Drive 66th St. east 3 blocks to
Lake Shore Drive and turn right on Lake Shore Dr. Parking for Wood Lake Nature Center is less
than 1 block ahead on the right.
The hike: Located
in the heart of suburbia on the south side of Minneapolis, tiny Wood Lake
Nature Center offers a green 150 acre oasis in a desert of concrete and
steel. The Nature Center dates to 1971,
when a recreational lake surrounded by homes was converted to the wetland you
see today. In terms of facilities, the
Center offers only a small picnic area and an Interpretive Building, which
features many interesting exhibits about the wetland and the fauna that call it
home.
For hikers,
the Center offers 5 trails totaling 3 miles that explore the Center’s wetland,
prairie, and forest habitats. The
highlight of the trail system is a floating boardwalk that passes over the heart
of the wetland. The hike described here
forms a figure-eight route with the boardwalk at the pinch of the route, thus
allowing you to hike across the boardwalk twice without retracing your steps
elsewhere.
 |
| Starting the Perimeter Trail counterclockwise |
From the
front of the Interpretive Center, take the paved path to the west (right, as
you stand facing the Interpretive Center’s front door) to begin heading
counterclockwise on the Perimeter Trail.
Open water in the Center’s wetland sits to the left, but the Perimeter
Trail stays in the shady woodlands for most of its loop. After passing the picnic area on the right, the
short Woodland Loop exits right. The
Woodland Loop and Perimeter Trail come back together in 0.1 miles, so you can
choose either option you wish. Some
large basswood trees live here, and puffy litter from some cottonwood trees
covered parts of the trail on my visit.
The trail
continues through a narrow strip of woods on a southwest course. At 0.4 miles, you reach a trail intersection
where you need to turn left to head for the floating boardwalk. Soon you reach the edge of the open water,
and a nice view of the Interpretive Center and some tall condominiums emerges
over the wetland. As this view indicates,
the sights and sounds of suburbia are everywhere on this hike; they include
these buildings, surrounding houses, adjacent I-35W, and a nearby airport. Thus, while Wood Lake Nature Center offers a
flat and pleasant hike, it is not the place to come for quiet and solitude.
 |
| Interpretive Center and condominiums across wetland |
Near 0.5
miles, you reach the floating boardwalk.
The boardwalk passes over open water, and its floating construction
means that you have to step carefully to keep your balance. The water is only a couple of feet deep, but
I had no trouble crossing the boardwalk despite my lack of balance and physical
coordination. I spotted a beaver
swimming in the water while walking across the boardwalk.
 |
| Floating boardwalk |
At the east
end of the boardwalk, trails go left and right.
Going left takes you directly back to the Interpretive Center, and this
hike will go that way a little later.
For now, turn right to explore the southern end of the wetland. The wide dirt trail stays in the edge of the
forest with the wetland on your right and some private residences on your left.
 |
| View from south end of wetland |
At 1.1
miles, you reach the south end of the wetland.
A bench here gives a nice northward view over the length of the
wetland. Just past the bench, the path
forks with the Perimeter Trail going left and the Prairie Trail going
right. The two trails come back together
on the west side of the wetland, so you can choose either option here. Because most of this hike has stayed in the
woods so far, I chose to take the right option and hike through the prairie.
 |
| Hiking over the causeway |
The Prairie
Trail passes through its namesake prairie before heading over a narrow causeway
in the wetland. I saw a lot of birds on
this part of the hike, including redwinged blackbirds, a family of Canada geese,
a family of mallard ducks, and some egrets.
At 1.7 miles, you rejoin the Perimeter Trail. Angle right to head back to the floating the
boardwalk, and cross the floating boardwalk for a second time.
 |
| Hiking through the woods |
Upon
reaching the east end of the boardwalk for a second time, choose the option
going left. The wide dirt trail stays in
the woods as it heads up the northeast side of the open water. Soon the parking area comes into view
ahead. The trail surface turns back to
asphalt as the trail curves left to return you to the Interpretive Center, thus
completing the hike.
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