A Walk I Like to Take

I like to walk around Wilde Lake here in downtown Columbia, MD.

Looking back at my starting point: Vantage House,

I head down the sidewalk to

Little Patuxent Parkway where I wait for the walk light.

Along the sidewalk on the other side,

I turn left and connect with the pathway around the lake.

My first view of the lake is the dam.

I take a right and head up a slight hill

where I can see the dam up close.

Then there's the lake.

Continuing on the path takes me to a dock of sorts.

Across the street is one of the original houses predating Columbia.

The house has been added on to over the years and

has become rather large.

Farther down the path I can see an original barn

with its very red roof.

The lake is surrounded by a mix of condominium apartments, townhomes, and single family houses.

At the top end of the lake I cross a bridge over the stream that fills the lake

and turn left.

On this side the path brings me to a street so

I have to walk on the sidewalk for a bit.

Eventually the path appears again on my left and I return to walk along the lake.

The path makes many turns going around several coves.

One last look at the lake before heading 

downhill with the dam on my left.

The last stretch back to the sidewalk.

Glancing to my right I can see Vantage House, my home, above the tree line in the distance.

I return there after enjoying a great walk around the lake.

Walking Wilde Lake

We have had some incredibly hot weather of late.  But the day I took this walk around Wilde Lake, which we can see from our apartment, it was a gorgeous low humidity, moderate temperature day.

Come along with me.

Below the dam at the start of the walk around is this old stone building which I think may have been a spring house for the farmhouse we see at the end of the walk.  Now it's a gathering point for summer day camp.

Here's the lake from the top of the dam.

Across the lake once we start circling it we can see the top of an old barn.

One stretch of the path is mulched in front of some white town homes.

At one point we leave the lakeside to walk along the sidewalk because houses are built on the lake.  Here I spied this doe munching.

She must not like hosta because they were undisturbed.

The path comes back to lake side.

A view of the houses on the lake.

Here are the white town homes we walked by on the mulched path.

Here is the old barn we saw from the other side.

If you are familiar with Laura Lippman's book "Wilde Lake" I think this is the house that figures in the story.  I think the springhouse belongs to it or did.

It's been added on to quite a bit.

Almost at the end of the walk is the dockside.

The Columbia Association which owns the lake and parkland surrounding it does a nice job with the flowers.

Hope you enjoyed the walk.

Joining Through My Lens