Trail variety and frosty surfaces

Coppertone had noticed this trail when driving by recently so we decided to come for a visit to check it out.  We parked at Wardlaw Park near the center of the trail then headed west towards Hanns Park.

The western part of the trail is paved and relatively flat.  It follows the course of Blue Rock Springs Creek.  It ends at Hanns Park, a place we had considered as a trailhead earlier in the day.  But there were a few people milling about in parking lot that gave us the impression they were not there for a dose of nature, so we elected on Wardlaw Park instead.

When we returned to our starting point we continued to the east on more paved trail, until we came upon a locked fence with a golf course on the other side.  We missed the fork in the trail a not too far back.  Though there are signposts for the split, it was not entirely obvious to us that's where we should go because the paved trail turns into a narrow packed dirt surface.  Thus begins the "other" trail.

The natural surface trail heads uphill and hugs the boundary of the aforementioned golf course.  Occassionally you'll be just a stone's throw from someone's tee up.  Whereas the first part of our hike was more of a walk, here the term hike aptly applies with some decent elevation changes.  There are even some vista views looking over the golf course and beyond.

We continued on this trail all the way to Lake Herman Road when we turned back and retraced our steps back to our starting point.

We've had some freezing temperatures recently and non-sunny segments of the trail were still a bit frosty and icy.  More than once our feet slid a bit underneath us, but thankfully never bad enough to cause a fall.