Swamp Park, River Road area, Louisville

Yes, this is what a swamp looks like in Kentucky

Vines so thick they strangle the sun

Caperton Swamp, known by locals as the "Swamp Park" is hidden along River Road, a view so scenic that you are sure to miss it's tiny parking lot. Perhaps this is why it's not frequented much - but it's more likely that the name "Swamp Park" doesn't sound very appealing. The trail here is short. A quick loop around the swamp ends disappointedly at an overpass before returning to the trail head. This, however, isn't one of those places that you go to for physical exertion. This is a literal fairy tale kingdom of wildlife worth savoring with every step. The swamp isn't really a swamp in the sense that most people consider. It's more of a marsh or wetland area. It's shallow waters are so clear that they seem to be boiling with tadpoles and larvae in late spring. It's not unusual to spy a few cranes mingling with various species of duck and I've delighted in seeing nesting boxes overflowing with their contents.  I usually initially forgo the loop trail around the swamp in lieu of exploring the inter-connected matrix of tiny deer "trails" bordering the East side of the park. Here, I explore trees so covered in vines they seem like tee-pees and find sunny islands of flattened grass where deer have bedded down. In the winter and spring months, you will occasionally stumble across the ruins of a homestead. Usually so embedded in weeds they are indiscernible, in these months, toppled brick pillars, decomposing beer cans and glass bottles are exposed like bleaching bones. Rummaging among the ruins, I once found a child's toy. The plastic shark existed in a strange juxtaposition between an imaginary sea and the ground beneath my feet. For a moment, it seemed as though it belonged there and I was the foreigner disturbing it's rest. It's existence, in such a quintessentially fantastic location, seemed natural.

Trail: Short and quick loop.
Time: Short enough for a lunch break.
Cool Stuff: There are actually two distinct swamp areas although the area on the East end of the park may be on private property.

Love. Me. Knot.

Iroquois Park, South End, Louisville

The summit on a winter's evening around sunset. 

A true rarity, this picnic shelter has a working fireplace! 

What is this? A trap?

 Iroquois Park is really just a hill in the center of the South end of Louisville. Although it has some unusual amenities including Iroquois Park Amphitheater and a frisbee golf course, the real attraction is the hill---and what a hill it is! It's possible, mostly in the summer months, to drive up to the crest along a switchback, paved road but this road is usually closed most of the year. Of course, driving up a hill doesn't really satisfy my wanderlust, so I don't mind the lack of accessibility. The trails are largely ignored by most of the park regulars but expect to encounter the usual mix of teenage stoners, wandering homeless and other assorted riff-raff that haunt an urban park. Aside from a few deer, these "wild creatures" will be more startled of you than you are of them. Trekking off the trail is ill-advised. The landscape is clogged with more vines and briers than Rapunzel's tower and the swift run-off of rain on the hill makes the stream beds so muddy they feel like quicksand under your boots. Although there are portions of the trail that enable you to suspend your disbelief that you are in a city, the metropolis is inescapable. Even at the summit, the dull roar of Taylor Boulevard can be heard all around you and the evidence of human usage, including errant, used condoms and glass bottles filled with unidentifiable liquids, is hard to ignore. Aside from this, the summit of the hill is truly spectacular. Louisville encircles your vision in every direction. The view is largely unobstructed, even in the summer months when the trees are full of leaves. Sadly, the overlook area, a beautiful, concrete cascade of semi-circles and rock walls, has been heavily damaged by vandalism. During my last trip, I was stunned to find that one of the rock walls had been kicked through and that a very large bronze commemorative plaque was missing. In awe, I wondered what strength, combined with what horrendous life circumstances, could result in so much damage.

Damage to the summit walls is visible here, on bottom left corner

Trails: Take your choice of paved roadways or sloppy inclines.

Time: Pretty short. A longer hike is possible if you loop around the hill.

Cool stuff: See the cobblestone picnic shelter with a fireplace in it! The stonework makes you feel like you are stopping to rest in a hobbit hole!