Red Fox Meadows Natural Area



To be honest, I really didn’t expect much from my first visit to Red Fox Meadows Natural Area. It’s located at a busy intersection that I’ve passed by dozens of times in the past year alone, and from the car, it doesn’t look like much more than a parking lot, a restroom, and a nice fence. Not that I don’t appreciate a good fence, but all in all, the area didn’t inspire me to stop. I also had my secret suspicions about the existence of the so-called meadow.  



But I decided I should go and see for myself. As my older son and I strolled along, enjoying the late sun of a February afternoon and chatting about his upcoming history test, we discovered that Red Fox Meadows extends well beyond the parking area. The easy trail covers about a mile, running alongside and across a canal and a drainage ditch. Dogs are allowed here, and we saw a couple of them taking their people out for walks. And as far as this meadow business goes, the grasses are winter-brown now and the trees are bare—and, no, we didn’t see a fox—but the area is still a lovely little respite in a rather unassuming place.  





Along with giving humans a place to recreate, Red Fox Meadows has an outdoor classroom boardwalk for educational programs; provides habitats for wildlife; and is an important part—several years in the making—of the city’s flood management plan. Although it has been so dry here that a flood seems unlikely in the near future, Mother Nature may have other plans. It wouldn’t be the first time. 



Comments

liz young said…
And on top of everything else you took a photo of the ghost of Siamese Twins - amazing!
Jenny said…
Too funny! That sounds like it could be a tabloid headline.

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