Water Dog Lake Park 2015-06-02

You know your dog is welcome in a place that has a name like Water Dog Lake Park. Located in Belmont, this is a great place to hike with your dog. Here is a link to the City of Belmont's map of the trail system. There are 14 trails that are named, color coded and well labeled that are accessible from multiple trail heads. I had parked by the Lake Rd. trail head, off Ralston Ave & Hallmark Dr.

The layout of this open space is very interesting. Enclosed completely within Belmont's residential neighborhood, many of these trails can be accessed directly from the backyard of homes. Yet you would never feel that you are hiking in a residential neighborhood!

We started our hike today on Lake Road Trail. Lake Road Trail is one of the two trails that is a wide dirt trail. Almost a mile into the hike, Apollo and I took Lake Loop Trail that goes around Water Dog Lake. Dogs are welcome to swim in this lake. Following the short Lake Loop Trail, we continued our hike on Berry Trail. 

A little ahead, you will come across the remnants of an old car, rusted and hanging by the edge of the cliffs. I made a mistake at this point and took the "trail" on the left. Well, it wasn't a trail but a path carved out of storm water. This descended steeply and after several minutes, I realized that wasn't the right way. Climbing our way out of this, the rusted old car was a sight for sore eyes that indicated we were back on Berry Trail.

Berry Trail joins John Brooks Trail. After walking on it for a while, we came upon Chapparal Trail on our left. This was the trail that I'd intended to take. Chapparal Trail presents some great views of the bay, bridges, and the hilly neighborhood. Some three-fourths of a mile later, Chapparal Trail joins Elevator Trail. I decided to turn back at this time. 

A short climb on Elevator Trail got us to the other end of John Brooks Trail. We took John Brooks Trail all the way back to the Lake Rd. trail head. John Brooks Trail is the other wide dirt road trail, at least in parts. All other trails we tried today were single track trails. We also had to climb up and down several stretches. Including the mistake we made, our hike today included an ascent of about 800 feet. 

With several more trails left to be explored, Apollo and I will certainly be back here, probably starting our hike from a different trail head to maximize our coverage of this small, yet delightful park. With extensive shade, this would be a great place to hike on a hot day too!

More pictures from our 5.2 mile hike today.
#Hiking #HikingWithDogs #WaterDogLakePark