Laurel Run Park

I had always heard that wildflowers were profuse at Laurel Run Park in April, thus it was a priority to return there in the spring.  Five of us headed over to Church Hill, TN this morning to visit the park.  The wildflowers were not difficult to find; the embankment adjacent to the road into the park were carpeted with trillium, larkspur and wild phlox.  I was excited to begin taking pictures.  We parked, used the restroom, which was super clean, and hit the trail.  The creek was flowing pretty good, but I didn't think much of it.  We crossed the footbridge and were pleasantly surprised that the trail was in excellent condition with few marshy spots.  However after the first climb we headed downhill and approached the next crossing, and unfortunately, the water was too high to cross.  The rocks that are normally used to cross the stream were submerged.  Nobody really wanted to risk having to hike with wet, cold socks for the remainder of the day so we decided to return to a spur trail that said Overlook Trail.  This trail proved to be a bit of a challenge but we arrived at a nice overlook with a bench at the top of a hill that overlooked the entire valley.  We hiked back down to the parking lot and had some lunch at the picnic area.  The day had warmed nicely by then and we explored around the park before returning to Lee County.  Nice park and good day!

Dwarf Larkspur

From the Overlook

White Trillium