Ephrata Township Park

This past week I haven't posted because I feel like we've been doing the usual things: going to the library and the pool, having play dates with friends, and just hanging out. Finally, though, I have taken pictures of something that I would consider blog-worthy. A new park, just a mile and a half from our house.

The Ephrata Township Park.

Only it's NOT a new park. Apparently this park has been in the planning stages for many, many years. The park map is dated 2006. I believe it's somewhere in the middle stages of its growth. While apparently many things I'm going to show you below have BEEN there all this time we have been living here, some parts of the park are brand new, and some things are planned to be built in the future.

I recently discovered this park because my friend Megan told me that they had just built a new playground there. Being that my little climbing monkeys love a good playground, I was excited to check it out. On first impression, I was in love. It's fresh, new fun for the kids.




While the kids were playing, I looked around. In the immediate vicinity I found . . .

a pavillion

bathrooms and water fountains

a soccer field

a baseball field

and a pond, with a fountain in the middle of it and a walking path around it.

Upon further inspection, I noticed beautiful wide, paved walking paths, with wastecans and bags to pick up after your dogs. Apparently this is quite the popular place to bring your dogs for a walk! I then realized, hmm, this might just make a nice place to go running. In the past week, I have taken my runs over to the park and I loved it. Not only are there traffic free, relatively flat paths to run on, but with bathrooms and water fountains close by, it's even better.

On one of my runs, I noticed some other stone paths veering off into the woods. I looked on the park map and noticed that the paths go back to a lake! Today, we took the boys and went exploring. This is what we found:



How cool is that? A beautiful lake with benches to sit on . . . you are right in Ephrata, behind Main Street, yet you feel like you're in the middle of nowhere. Erik is hoping to come fishing here with Alex sometime soon.

We walked around a bit and discovered hiking trails going up into the woods. We didn't get to try all of them today but I'm sure we'll be back again.





So we are just in love with this place -- playing for the kids, running for me, nature for all of us, and even a nice walk from the dogs. And so close to home. Ephrata's #1 hidden treasure, in my opinion.

And that's what's happening on Boomerang Drive!

-- Holly