Kill Creek Regional Park (Olathe, KS)

2013.05.25 - Kill Creek Regional Park is just west of Olathe, KS, north of I-35, and a long way from Texas. I discovered it on the map while looking for a place near Kansas City knowing I was going to have some time before meeting my friend from Topeka in Merriam. Not that I needed any other reason more than a few new trails to explore.

The main paved trail which circles around the park runs close enough to parking that I can literally get out of the car and a few steps later be on my way. Which really makes it hard for me to forget where I parked or get lost. Thank goodness I have a GPS!

I ventured toward the lake and found a cache along the way. It was in plain sight and in view of a picnic tables, yet a bit outside of the trimmed grass. That natural boundary line is just enough to deter the average park attendee from advancing any further. I signed my name on the log and continued on.

Kill Creek Lake is multi purpose in that people fish, canoe, and swim. I learned that youth under 15 or seniors over 75, 65 if a county resident, can fish without a license. There is also a beach with a lifeguard on duty during the weekend in the summer. The water is clear and inviting, but I did not jump in. I wanted to stay dry for the hike ahead.

For most of the perimeter, the paved trail lines the lake with some places to rest and reflect including a small island with a bridge and cache. However, to circle the entire lake, there is a dirt path available only for hikers. With the recent storms, it was muddy in places and maybe that is why when I stopped, I felt these little bites on my legs. I thought they were mosquitos, boy was I wrong, they were ticks!  It was the first time that I can remember, ticks small and large coordinated an assault on my body. Freaking Blood Suckers!

I vowed not to go into the bush again, but did not last long as I flowed another trail to get to a puzzle cache. It is a fun cache. The container is attached to a prop used in the geocaching cache name, So I Married An Axe Murderer. I took a picture of it, but don't want to spoil it for the caching community. All I can say is that some caches are just fun!

Wanting to hike as much as I could before having to leave, I hiked and cached south the paved trail, until it circled around. As I wrote on one of the cache logs, this is an all day park and I only had a few hours. I am not sure when I'll be back but I know I still have a lot more park to explore.

I hiked 5.08 miles in 2 hours : 32 minutes averaging 29 minutes : 57 seconds per mile including caching. The fastest mile being the 2nd at 25 minutes: 08 seconds.

Total blogged miles: 42.21 miles.