Springfield Parks, Greenways, and Outdoor Spaces

3/26/16
We were able to check six more sites off the list today, all on Springfield's north side, plus we spent time exploring the City Utilities park at Fellows Lake. Of course, the weather outside today was fabulous!

#15. Fellows Lake Linear Park Farm Rd. 197
The Springfield-Greene County Parks facility list refers to this trail as the Fellows Lake Linear Park, the signs at the trailheads simply refers to it as Fellows Lake Trail, the Ozark Greenways site calls it Fellows Lake Nature Trail and Springfield-Greene County Parks facilities map has it labeled as Little Sac River Greenway. I don't know if that last name is an alternate name or just a mistake, but I couldn't find Little Sac River Greenway on any internet searches. Neither of us had been either on this trail or anywhere at Fellows Lake before. The trail is 2.5 miles total between two trailheads. We parked at the Fellows Lake Marina and walked for 3/4 mile then back from this trailhead. It is totally unpaved and at times steep and rocky. The trail does not run along the lake shore, but the lake was visible through the trees about half the time on this section and we were essentially walking through the woods. Added to our walk around the picnic area and other facilities at the marina, we spent just under an hour and walked 1.9 mile. We then went to the other trailhead at the gate 4 parking area/dock. We walked out about 1/3 mile out, then back, spending 25 minutes and walking 3/4 mile total. We were in view of the lake somewhat more on this section and there were several bat houses near the trailhead. We saw two other groups on the trail. This trail was nice, but didn't offer anything that we couldn't find much closer to our house, such as at the Springfield Nature Center. We walked a little less than half of the trail.

Fellows Lake Park Farm Rd. 197
This is a City Utilities Park just  north of Springfield. The lake is part of Springfield's water supply. There is a marina, boat launch, docks, two picnic pavilions with playgrounds, trail, and multiple covered picnic tables located here. At the marina parking lot, there is a large dock, boat launch and canoes/kayaks for rent. There were several people here and a few boats on the lake. There were fishermen both in boats and on the banks. There were several covered picnic tables and a large pavilion with multiple tables and grills. There was a playground here with a merry-go-round, swings, and a slide. West from here toward the dam, there are several covered picnic tables and most of them were occupied. There was another pavilion with another playground with two slides, swings and a merry-go-round. There was a group hiding eggs around the playground for an Easter egg hunt. We then pulled in to the parking lot by the dam. The dam was restricted but we could view it from the fence. Next we went back east to gate 4. There is a small dock, the other trailhead, picnic tables and a swing set here. We didn't see any sailboats on the lake but saw several other boats. We spent a little under two hours here and walked almost 3 miles. There may be other public use areas on the south side of the lake but we were only on the north side. This was a fun area to explore.

#16. Valley Water Mill Park 2450 E. Valley Water Mill Rd.
This 70 acre park with a lake is on the north side of town near Glenstone Ave. and I-44. I had a vague idea of this park and lake's existence but we had never been before. There are several trails here and we walked the 1+ mile path around the lake that is mostly unpaved. There are two fishing pavilions near the dam and both were occupied. There is no boating/swimming allowed and no playground.. The Watershed Center of the Ozarks is located here but it was not open at the time we were there. There are several education stations along the path about water supplies/conservation and there is a spring with a large deck by it. We spent about 50 minutes and walked 1.6 miles. There were several other people here. The scenery on the walk was very nice and was probably my favorite of today.

#17. Valley Watermill Equestrian Center 4007 N. Farm Rd. 171
This is a public use equestrian center just around the corner from Valley Water Mill Park. I had no idea there was a public equestrian center in Springfield. It was near 6:00 pm when were here and there were only a few people around. There is an inside arena, an outdoor arena and an obstacle course. They offer classes, camps, and birthday parties. You can rent the meeting room for weddings/conferences. Horse owners can bring their horses here to ride and there were several horses and ponies(or miniature horses?) in the pasture. Many of them were waiting at the gate...It must have been supper time!!! We walked inside the arena and around outside for about 10 minutes. This seemed to be a very nice facility.

#18. Bill and Payne Stewart Golf Course 1825 E. Norton Rd.
This is one of two golf courses located here on Norton Rd. on the north side of Springfield. There is a driving range and pro shop and offers private lessons. Neither Charlie and I golf on any courses that don't involve a windmill or hitting the ball into an alligator's mouth so we had never been here before. We literally drove by this here on our way back from Valley Water Mill Park and stopped so I could check it off my list.

#19. Betty Allison at Oscar Blom Golf Course 1825 E. Norton Rd.
This is right across the street from the Bill and Payne Stewart Golf Course. This is a family friendly lighted nine hole course. The Betty Allison Center was closed but we could see one group golfing. The clubhouse is available for rental and birthday parties.

#20. Parkwood Park 2600 N. Barnes
This is a 6 acre neighborhood park in north Springfield just north of Kearney St. on Barnes Ave.. We had never been here before and it is larger that it initially seems. There is a gravel drive between an apartment building and a residential street but it opens up to be much larger when you get behind the apartments. There are swings, two slide/play structures and several picnic tables. There is an old silo and no paved parking but you can apparently drive in and park on the grass. There were several people here but only one vehicle so I imagine this is a primarily a neighborhood park. We were here for about 5 minutes and walked 0.15 miles.

Including drive time, we spent four plus hours and visited all places we had never been before. We have now checked 20 Springfield-Greene County Park facilities off the list of 102.