Sunday, November 15, 2009

Fall Day at Lake Artemesia

We took a trip to Lake Artemesia in Berwyn Heights, Maryland last week.


Lake Artemesia is a man made lake with paved hiker/biker trails in Berwyn Heights - near Greenbelt and College Park. The trails are part of the Anacostia Tributary Trail System. According to Wikipedia, the park was constructed upon completion of Metro's Green Line. Metro saved money during the Green Line construction by excavating sand and gravel from this site, and the park construction was funded from the money saved.




The trail that circles the lake is known as the Luther Goldman Birding Trail. The trail was officially dedicated in 2008 in memory of Luther Goldman - a biologist, birder and a photographer for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Prince George's County Audubon Society sponsors bird walks along this trail. During our visit, we saw a lot of ducks and geese, but we never stopped very long because our kids were leading on their bikes. I did find this great picture on Flickr of geese taking flight from Lake Artemesia.




The trail around the lake is paved. There were a lot of bikers, joggers and walkers.




We came across a grove of weeping willows.




Another view of the lake.




There are several pavilions located around the lake. A father and son were fishing from this pavilion located near the edge of the lake. Some of the trees were showing their fall colors.




Here is a view of the same pavilion from the other side of the lake. The lake provides a nice reflection in this shot.




I couldn't decide which view of the pavilion I liked best, so I included them all.




We came across this big guy on the far side of the lake.




We came across this little guy near the entrance to the park.




We didn't see any beavers, but it was clear that they live here. Wire screen surrounds the trunks of many trees to keep the beavers away.




We found this symbol spray painted on a bridge at the point where the Paint Branch Trail heads off toward College Park. I tried searching Google images, but I couldn't find anything similar. Since this location is inside the Beltway, I can only assume that this is the work of the roller skating lobby. Or maybe this is a Frenchman wearing a beret and thick glasses.




The CSX and Metro tracks run along the West side of the park. Four year old boys find this more interesting than the birds and the turtles.




Here's the Green Line as seen from the park.




The College Park Airport is located just South of the Lake Artemesia. We heard this plane take off, and then it suddenly appeared over the trees.


Google Maps list the following as the closest address to the entrance of the park. Signs for the park are located on Greenbelt Road. The signs will lead you down Branchville Road on the North side of Greenbelt Road. Branchville Road will become 55th Avenue, and the road turns and runs South under Greenbelt Road. You can also access the park from Berwyn Heights on the South side of Greenbelt Road.

8304 55th Avenue, Berwyn Heights, MD


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9 comments:

  1. "Or maybe this is a Frenchman wearing a beret and thick glasses." :) Berwyn Heights *is* tres chic, after all.

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  2. It's just a short walk down the NE Branch Trail and you can stand less than 20 feet from the end of the runway. There aren't as many planes as there used to be, though.

    That shot of the pavilion is lovely. The reds are bold. Here's my shot from when the lake was iced:

    http://theabbotofunreason.blogspot.com/2009/01/temperature-climbed-back-up-to-32-so-it.html

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  3. This is honestly one of our favorite parks around! Back when we were planning our wedding (almost 12 years ago now), we really wanted to get married in the raised gazebo, but they don't allow it, which was a major bummer. But, we've enjoyed taking all the kids there for bike rides, picnics and general nature-loving. :)

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  4. L.A., yeah, a lot of people would die for a Berwyn Heights address - or maybe their pets might.

    Abbot, I thought about you when I was writing this post. You must have been in this park hundreds of times on your way to other destinations. I like your winter pics. If we get any snow this winter, I'm need to remind myself to put the shovel down and pick up the camera. We'll have to check out the runway next time. The kids have been to the museum over there, but I haven't.

    Morninglight, It's nice having a park like this so close. We went to a pretty cool place yesterday, but it was an hour South of Bowie (future blog post). Bummer about the wedding. It would have made a nice location.

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  5. Lovely shots - my favorites are the second one and the turtles. Now that I'm not travelling the way I used to, it's nice to see all of the local stuff.

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  6. Thanks Cyndy. I was happy with the way the turtle pic and #2 turned out too - with the reflections off the water.

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  7. Bowie Mike,

    Nice photos. I live in BH and walk to UMCP everyday and i always check for that very turtle sunning on the posts. Thanks.

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  8. Thanks Anonymous. I probably took 30 pictures of that turtle. It was a great photo op.

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  9. Hi everyone, I just recently discovered this lake and Berwyn Heights, I've been thinking of moving to the vicinity of UMCP as my wife both works and studies there, and the commute is cumbersome for her from where we currently live. I work from home, so I don't really mind, but I love lakes so this seems ideal. Is Berwyn Heights a safe neighborhood? I was loosing hope of finding anything decent near UMCP, but this looks like quite a discovery for me. Any experience you may have living in Berwyn Heights would be highly appreciated. Thank you.

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