Hiking in Arbor Hills

Yesterday we went to Arbor Hills Nature Preserve for a walk. A welcome change after being cooped up indoors through the weekend. The Arbor Hills Nature Preserve is located close to our home... maybe about 2-3 miles. It is a 200-acre open area with concrete walking/ hiking trails and off road mountain bike and hiking trails. The Preserve offers a close-to-nature experience with an abundance of serenity and an escape from the chaos of urban sprawl. Arbor hills hosts several species of plants, trees and animals and with several brooks and creeks flowing through the preserve it is an ideal place to spend a quiet afternoon amidst nature. Speaking about fauna Arbor Hills supports a variety of rats, birds, bats, Rabbits and fish in the creeks. A pond at one extreme of the preserve serves to stock up fish.

There are over 2 miles of concrete trails, unpaved hiking paths and a bike trail. One can spend the whole day hiking, walking and visiting the various spots of the nature preserve. This is just not for hikers and adventurers, for families with children there is a Playground, Paved recreational trail (approx. 4.4 miles), Natural unpaved trails for pedestrians, designated off-road cycling trail (approx. 2 miles), a natural biofilter for cleaning surface run-off from the parking lot before it reenters the ground water tables and an observation tower which offers some fantstic sunset views.

Yesterday was my third visit to the Nature Preserve and this time I had remembered to carry the camera to take some pictures. And yesterday we explored the most in the park, we went to almost every nook and corner of the preserve crossing creeks, walking over rickety wooden bridges, along off road trails, along the railway tracks which forms one border of the preserve, along the fish-filled creek etc. A truly invigorating experiece.

One peculiarity I noticed in the park is the totally brown and leafless trees contiguous to lush green ones. The former has shed leaves due to fall and the latter continues to be green and unaffected by the fall. There are trees which don't have any leaves but are full of colourful fruits, red, yellow, brown, green etc, so the tree in effect looks red and attractive. Felt good watching these and capturing these unique sights in the camera.

Arbor Hills Nature Preserve Pictures


Click here for a map of Arbor Hills