Greenbelt

 

"I like this place and could willingly waste my time in it."

- William Shakespeare

 

 

One of my favorite places to go and shoot is the Greenbelt Park in Clive, Iowa.  The park is just a few minutes drive from work, so it's a great place to spend my lunch time.

 

Readers from the Des Moines area may be familiar with the Greenbelt Park, the rest of you will I hope enjoy the photos.  (Hint: click on any photo to view the photos as a slide show). 

 



 

The Greenbelt Park straddles Walnut Creek as it meanders through Clive, Iowa.  The bike trail that runs through the park continues to the east down through Water Works Park and all the to downtown.  To the west the trail continues on to Waukee and the Raccoon Valley Trail.



 For those looking to see deer, here's my advice on the best place to go and get up close and personal.  Go to the Greenbelt entrance at 86th Street, by the 7 Flags Fitness Center.  Follow the road into the woods to the shelter house. 

From there head to the west until you get to the side trail that leads to Lincoln Ave (there should be a park bench there).  Look for the tree shaped like a number 4.

 

To your right, just in front of the tree, is a small trail.  Follow it, and keep your eyes open for deer, squirrels, foxes, and in season herons nesting along the creek.

For mallard duck enthusiasts the best place to spot them is just east of the 86th Street bridge over Walnut Creek.  Go about 30 yards, then start watching the creek!

There's plenty of wildlife in the woods of the trail, and you can get surprisingly close to some of them.  Most of them are semi-acclimated to people, so if you're not too loud or scary you should be able to get close.

The Clive portion of the Greenbelt runs from the near the Windsor Heights Wal-Mart to almost 149th Street in Clive.  On a good day a two or three hour hike will get you from one end to the other.  If you're not feeling that energetic there are plenty of parking areas along the way.

All the photos in today's blog were taken along the Greenbelt Trail.  So if you're in the Des Moines area take the time to have your own little adventure.  Until then, enjoy the show!