Walking-only trails around the lakes
The Waterworks Park Walking Trail is a grassy multi-purpose trail surrounding Bonnifield Lake, which includes a beach for swimming.
There are two walking-only trails at Pleasant Lake. The East Walking Trail is on the east side of the lake, and the West Walking Trail is on the west side of Pleasant Lake, which is accessible from the Loop Trail.
Lake details at the City Lakes page.
Walking-only trails in Lamson Woods
The Neff Walking Trail connects to the Lamson Woods Walking Trail in Lamson Woods, and at the other end connects to the Loop Trail near Glasgow Rd.
The trail through Lamson Woods is in a State Preserve - please obey all of the rules.
See more on the Lamson Woods Trail Page.
Lamson Woods State Preserve
Lamson Woods is a 43-acre woodland preserve located on the southeast edge of Fairfield. This hilly, wooded area was willed to the city of Fairfield by Carrie Lamson Ross in 18930. Originally "Lamson's Pasture" was a park that included Fairfield's first golf course. The golf course was in a pasture for cows and pigs along a small woodland, and was dubbed "cow-pasture golf". It was a favorite area for hiking and nature study for people of all ages. The woodland was dedicated as a biological state preserve in 1978.
The preserve is a mixture of upland and lowland forest. Mesic and dry woodland species occupy the slope and ravines that are cut into Pre-Illinoian glacial deposits (500,000 to 2.5 million years old) typical of the Southern Iowa Drift Plain landform region. Trees occupying the canopy include cottonwood, white oak, bur oak, shingle oak, shagbark hickory, Americam elm, hackberry, and black cherry. Ohio buckeye can be found in the understory with hazeknut along the woodland edges. A planted pine grove is located in the southwest corner of the preserve.
The spring wildflower display begins with the blooming of bloodroot, blubells, and spring beauty, followed by prairie trillium, toothwort, white trout-lily, blue phlox, wild geranium, mayapple, Solomon's seal, swamp buttercup, and wilh hyacinth. By May, moonseed and Jacob's ladder can be seen in flower followed by jumpseed and pale touch-me-not in July. Augist brings the blooming of hog peanut among the sensitive dren and maindenhair fern fronds. In the fall, the bright red leaves of Virginia creeper can be seen crawling up the trunks of trees or along the ground.
(From The Guide to Iowa's State Preserves).
To learn more about the Iowa DNR State Preserves program, go to the Iowa DNR website.
See a topo map here.
See a satellite view here.
