Fernald Preserve

Today we chose the Fernald Preserve for our weekly walk. Fernald was formerly a site run by the department of defense and used for the processing of uranium for weapons. They began the cleanup of the site in 1986 and it has been turned over to the Office of Legacy Management. It contains a few trails and is popular with bird watching and photography groups.

Our walk took us over the Hickory Trail and the Sycamore trail for a total mileage of 5 miles. The trails are easy walking and we completed the 5 miles in an hour and a half. There are gentle rises and falls along the trails but nothing strenuous. The Hickory trail does have a significant portion of it through forest. A couple of interesting sightings on our journey included the new bird watching stand, the bone yard where dead animal carcasses are put (man did it stink), a couple of areas that were fenced in so that monitoring of the amount of water in the wetlands could be completed. All and all an excellent walking site.

Fernald's website is: http://www.lm.doe.gov/Fernald/Visitors_Center/Brochures.pdf

After burning our calories we stopped at McCoy's bar on Springdale for a couple of beers and hot pretzels with cheddar cheese. They are delicious.