Hiking at Caesar Creek State Park

Thursday
We enjoyed a beautiful sunny day today, and really mild for the time of year, though there was quite a cool wind. We headed north to Caesar Creek State Park to do some hiking. The dam impounding Caesar Creek Lake was built during the years 1971-1978 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under the Flood Control Act of 1938. During the fall and winter months, the lake level is lowered to prepare for the storage of heavy spring rainfall. If heavy rains occur, surface water runoff is stored in the lake until the swollen streams and rivers below the dam have receded. Once they can handle the discharge of the stored water without damage to lives or property, the extra water is released. We tried a different trail today, part of the perimeter trail, around the lake. We did 6 miles return today, which leaves us plenty for another day, since the whole trail is over 12 miles! The trail was quite muddy in places, and quite up and down, so it was easy to slip, and we were very glad of our hiking poles. In the lowere centre photograph you can see some sort of wooden shelter, and nearby was a stone ringed fire pit - I’m guessing it was perhaps a Boy Scout outing. We saw a total of four people and a dog during the course of our walk, so quite socially distanced!