Eugene Park Tour - Bethel Community Park, Part Four

The Wetlands

My neighborhood is built on wetlands. Our home is even in a flood zone. When the neighborhood was built, a designated portion of the development was to be maintained as wetlands. So a large part of Bethel Community Park remains in its natural state. We can hear frogs singing at night. Garter snakes visit my neighbor's gardens in our common area. And occasionally I see herons out in the fields.

Adjacent to the baseball stadiums and the skate park, and between the playground and track, there is ample parking. But when games are underway, it's not quite enough parking. So a portion of the wetlands near the stadium is used for overflow parking. In this photo, you can see the stadium in the background.

In the evenings, this dirt lot is often used by teenagers, hopped up in big trucks, learning to spin doughnuts in the dirt. They get pretty loud. Seems like they're having fun.

The entire wetlands is surrounded by a sidewalk and curbing, so it makes for a very pleasant morning walk.  This is a view of the wetlands looking east, with the baseball stadium in the background.

The weeds grow tall on the west side. There are lots of wild blackberry bushes. Last year at this spot, a bee was busy doing his business in a blackberry patch. He decided he didn't like me picking a berry, so he stung me in the arm. I got two weeks' worth of itching and swelling. He lost his life. He should have left me alone. I wasn't bothering him.

Take note of that copse of tall trees. They stand in the center of this big patch of wetlands. I've seen kids walking in that direction after school. I followed a path into the trees once to see what's there. Not much, really. There are signs that people hang out there ... trash and whatnot. Some logs that look good for sitting in a circle for a chat. The day I was there, the ground truly was a wetlands. Nice and muddy.

This is the view on the east side of the wetlands with the tall trees on the left, the baseball stadium straight ahead, and the rest of the park to the right.

These Sunday morning photos don't do it justice. I find the wetlands a calming place, and they look so pretty at sunset. Here's a photo I took last year that nearly catches the beauty.

Come visit me and we can walk around the wetlands together.