Sunny, Saturday January morning.  Good day to get out the snowshoes.  We had heard about the new Northwest Community Park and decided we would give it a try.  We weren't quite sure where to access the trails so we thought Old Wells Road along the river would be a good bet.  We didn't find a parking lot so we parked our car at the end of a cul de sac and went from there.  We followed a trail for awhile that seemed to be marked with some flags.  After following that for a short distance we broke off and made our own trail, climbing the hill.  There is a really nice view of the river from the top.  We were following another trail when we came across the ski trail, which is beautifully groomed.  We followed it to see where it started.  We found the beginning of the trail and where we could access it in the future.  We were really impressed with the area and decided we would have to come back at another time with our skis.

A few weeks later on a weekday afternoon, I broke out my skis after about 10+ years.  This time I accessed the trail from Jeffers Road and found a small area to park off one of the side roads.  I also found the trailhead for the snowshoe trail. 

It felt really good to be on x-country skis again after so many years.  I wondered why we stopped doing this.  It was a really nice afternoon.  The trails were nicely groomed for both skating and striding.  They were not too difficult, some small hills and some really nice scenery along the way.  I was really impressed with the work that had been done so far.  I hear they have more plans for this area and I am really looking forward to what is going to develop here.  I think the off-road biking will be awesome.  I think it's on its way to becoming another great recreation area, but right now it's seems like kind of a well-kept secret.  I know I will be back there again.