2 miles of hiking • 250' elevation gain •
Going back from the trip, I stopped at "free" pullout to get a quick swim and what do I see. Instead of steep scramble to the lake there's nicely constructed trail, with footsteps and handrails and all! It's still in construction phase, I didn't follow it to the end but it seems to link campgrounds of Beaver Bay and Cougar Park, and maybe even Cougar. Didn't ever hear of the trail plans. The trail avoids going down to the beach though (fine with me), in easy places it stays fairly high and only goes down near the wetland. So after the hike, scrambled down to the beach and another surprise was water level - it was much higher last 4th of July (and I'd say the water was much clearer). The shoreline was 50 to 100 feet back this time and even formed new islands.
