Beloit. Not going to lie, I am not really a big fan of this city. I was here once before and I felt uncomfortable. I have heard a couple of times that the city has some really nice places to hike and get into nature, so I decided to meet my dad and explore some of these places that everyone had been raving about.
If you saw my last post, you will have read that I have become interested in mushrooms lately and my dad had said that Roosevelt Park had some good mushies too look at. So naturally I wanted to go here first.
What I didn't realize was that Roosevelt Park is just the baseball field. The actual trails we were on were part of the Turtle Creek Greenway. The Greenway has many access points, and we just happened to find it via Roosevelt Park.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much in the way of mushrooms by the time I had gotten there. Either they had been eaten by wildlife or they had died. The mushrooms we did see were really cool though! I found one that was flipped upside down and filled with isopods who were eating the dying mushroom. I love isopods.
I would say that my favorite part of this park was its proximity to Turtle Creek. I love creeks and peacefully flowing water, and this did NOT disappoint! There were so many different ways to experience the creek. There were rocky banks to sit on and high vantage points to just look down and watch the water through the trees. GORGEOUS!!
The woods were also very beautiful, but there was something very eerie about this park. The section we were in was very still and covered with old concrete structures and graffiti. There were also parts of the trails that my dad called, "bum stashes." There is a big homeless problem in Beloit, so a lot of them live in the woods at night. There would be plastic bags hanging from trees and a pile of litter near a small bag of essentials. It was really sad to see and honestly, if I had been by myself, I would have left. I didn't feel safe and was on high alert the whole time, which didn't make the hike very relaxing.
Would I recommend Roosevelt Park/Turtle Creek Greenway? no. Maybe the section we went to was not the best part of it? Maybe the fact that there was no trail markers (there are apparently 4ish loop trails) and we accidentally ended up in some farmer's backyard? There was a lot of beautiful things to look at, but I wouldn't go alone, that's for sure.
This is only the first part of our adventures in Beloit! We later explored Big Hill Park and a really neat old bridge! They will be coming up soon so look forward to those!
If you are interested in checking out Roosevelt Park/Turtle Creek Greenway here is where to find it along with the City of Beloit's website!: *note: we entered through Roosevelt Park!
Roosevelt Park
1701 Keeler Ave. Beloit, WI 53511
Turtle Creek Greenway
1801 Milwaukee Rd. Beloit, WI 53511
https://www.beloitrecreation.com/
Want more content from me?
TikTok: @peachyfishy
Instagram: @supermomochan
(trip was taken 10/10/2020)
Bonus image!
Someone had nailed this to a tree and it warmed my heart. That must have been a spot that they had come to often and they left a bit of Sneak's memory behind. So sweet. RIP Sneak.
Comments