We hadn’t really explored the area too much, so when the boys were off of school, we went to Lake Louisa State Park. This State Park is off of I-27 and was a neat park. Entrance was $5/car. There were a few primitive campsites, cabins for rent, and a campground.
The main lake, Lake Louisa, was a strange reddish color, which was attributed to high tannins in the water. There was a playground, bathrooms, and a beach at Lake Louisa. The sand was a nice soft sand, although there was an alligator warning sign there as well.
We didn’t do any swimming, but we did take a hike through the park. Although it was beautiful, the trailheads were not well marked. Some of them had names based on the map, but they were not labeled at the trailhead. I am really glad we chose a trail that was in our trail app (AllTrails), because there were several crossovers along the way. I would definitely recommend wearing sunscreen, maybe bug spray, and bringing water.
We didn’t see many animals along our hike, even though we were close to the water many times. We did see one bird, several animal prints, a couple of burrows, and several fire ant mounds. I had to teach the boys about fire ants, as we normally don’t have them in Ohio. Their mounds look like piles of sand, often in open places and without the telltale hole us Northerners are used to seeing in ant mounds.
It was a nice hike and had some pretty scenery. It wasn’t bad for a $5 admission!