Coot Lake

Rating: easy-difficult

Distance: 1.16-mile loop

Surface: crusher fines, road base, dirt

Width: Avg: 6’ Min: 3’

Cross slope: Max: 16%

Grade: Avg: 0% Max: 13% for 8’

Trail Notes: A wheelchair-accessible fishing pier is adjacent to the parking lot. A crusher fines trail starts from the parking lot and heads in both directions around the lake. If you head south, the trail turns into a gravel service road for about 1000’ and reconnects to the crusher fines trail circling Coot Lake and the wetlands.

Hard Spots: At the western edge of the lake, the trail undulates up and down at around a 7% grade with some rocky surface areas. The southern section is road base gravel, making it a rough ride in a wheelchair. Near southwest corner, there is an 80’ long slope that runs at a 7-9% grade. Near the southeast corner, the small lakeshore trail has some brief slopes up to 13% and a few cross slopes reaching 12%.

Habitat: This trail encircles Coot Lake and some highly developed wetlands, so there is a wide variety of vegetation and birds in the area. Mid March is a great time to see migrating waterfowl. Prickly poppy, birdfoot trefoil, cowboy’s delight, and dwarf leadplant are some of the wildflowers that grow in the area.

Culture and History: A former gravel weigh station is located on the service road part of the path on the south side of Coot Lake. During sweltering summer afternoons in the 1980’s, this small building was used as a station for rangers to identify and ticket illegal naked bathers along the Coot Lake shoreline. These illegal naturists are gone, but the beautiful natural scenery is still here.