The secret back entrance to Sterling State Park - which is slated some day to be a bike path from downtown Monroe to the park - is a delightful surprise.

When my wife and I decided to attend the fireworks Tuesday night at Sterling, we also decided to try out the path. We’ve reported on its existence in The Evening News a couple times, and Mike Ingels showed details on how to find the path on his blog, Expatriate Monroe, about a month ago (see it here).

It may be legal to take the path, or it may not be. The signs when you come to the gate are about as confusing as you can get. One says “No tresspassing,” another says “Property open to waterfowl only,” followed by, “Foot entry at this point only.”

Does that mean that ducks are okay, but only if they walk? No flying allowed?

My wife, Kathy, and I decided that we would interpret the “Foot entry at this point only,” to mean that walkers were allowed.

I don’t know what that says about the several bicyclists who passed us along the way. But I’m guessing they assumed that “foot entry” really means no cars or motorcycles; bicycles are okay.

The trail leaves Elm Street across from the Clamdigger Restaurant, just west of Interstate 75. It crosses under I-75 after a few hundred feet, then heads north for a mile or so along a tree-lined path that appears to be a former road. If it wasn’t for the freeway noise, it would be an fine outdoors experience.

Then it turns 90-degrees away from the freeway and heads toward Lake Erie and Sterling State Park, following a dike with water on both sides. As the sound of cars and trucks fades into the background, the walk becomes better and better. By the time you connect to Sterling State Park’s nature trails - probably a mile or more from the freeway - it’s an exceptional walking experience.

We saw numerous rabbits and groundhogs, and one muskrat swam along next to us for several feet, daring us to reach out and touch it. I consider myself a real Monroeite now that I’ve been up-close and personal with a muskrat.

The trail also took us next to American lotus beds and several close-by sightings of heron and egrets. It’s exactly what Monroe needs - a quality walking/biking experience that can start in downtown Monroe and end up on Lake Erie.

The city and county folks working on completing the bike path have a great plan. It will be a wonderful addition to the community.

Oh, and the fireworks were pretty good, too.

p.s. Look to The Evening News soon for an explanation of what the signs really mean. We’ll be asking, and we’ll pass on the answer.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 5th, 2007 at 5:41 pm and is filed under Local issues, events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.