Ride 5 - Pheasant Branch

Headwaters Pheasant Branch creek. 5/3/24

Friday I took a destination ride to the Pheasant Branch Conservancy in Middleton. 

It's a beautiful spot with a 3.1 mile loop around the perimeter of the main park. There are several trails into the loop from neighborhoods and a longer spur that follows Pheasant Branch creek as it meanders through a natural green space.

This was my first extended ride through the conservancy since the major flooding the park experienced in August 2018. The city and supporting friends organization have been busy repairing and replacing bridges, boardwalks, and trails to their former condition or exceeding it.

My ride to the park was on a mix of trails and city streets with lunch at Culver's on Parmenter street. It was approximately a mile from there to an entry point on the park's west side where it meets Pheasant Branch Road. 

There is a spring at the north end of the grounds where you can see water bubbling up into a small pool next to a small hill topped with several trees. It's a must-stop if you are walking around the park.

Boardwalk. 5/3/24 dwm

 I was riding clockwise around the park. The spring is at 12, conventional park space and a parking lot is at 1, then the trail turns toward the wetland, tracing a line between it and a hill that provides human homes.

 After making the turn at 5, there are the first of several boardwalks over the wetland (photo left). The boards looked new to me, with more grips on the surface to make the trail safer. I doubt it was intentional that the boards are close enough that the bumpiness serves to slow down bikes.

 It's at 6 on the dial where you can take a left to cross Century Avenue into the linear section of park that lines both sides of Pheasant Branch creek.

 Century is busy, so it's nice having a light at the crossing. If you're crossing from north to south, walking the bike is advisable since there is a 90-degree right turn to the sidewalk. The walk is a short stretch to reach the next stretch of trail.

This section needed the most work after the flood, which destroyed the creek's banks, trails, and bridges. The last phase of the work was the trail itself which is now paved with asphalt from Century Avenue going several blocks to where it ends next to the Costco store.

That's a ford through the stream at left. 5/3/24 dwm

There is a school opposite the trail and across the creek west of Park Street. Until the recent work it wasn't accessible, now it has its own bridge for kids coming and going to school or for classroom trips into nature.

East of Park street, at least three of the bridges have paved fords where bikes can ride through the water; serve as a place for people to wade across; or offer a cool place for parents and small kids to play and relax.

It's an active area with walkers, runners, and bikes using the trail as a natural get-away in the middle of town.

From the end of the trail, I took Deming Way across Highway 14, then slightly west on Greenway Boulevard before turning left on Pleasant View for the stretch back to Verona. I wasn't done when I got home, I was 4.5 miles short of my goal, so I went out 2-and-a-quarter miles before turning around and finishing the ride at an even 30-miles at home.