Linda and I wanted the holiday weekend to be a bit different than usual. So we thought up something different to do each day. Today we saw the Lost City. I realize this was local to us. I still feel that it is within the intent of the weblog though.
As mentioned here:
In the 1920s, developers planned a “Venice of the North,” to be called Lake Forest. That land is now part of the Arboretum. Hike to the site of the failed subdivision, discovering construction remnants along the way.
We went to the UW Madison arboretum today. The Lost City is within the arboretum. A developer intended to build a sub division here. The economy collapsed. They also discovered that the water table was too high. Roads and foundations sunk into the ground when they were built. They ultimately gave up on it.
We only saw a portion of the arboretum. We parked in the Wingra Springs Lot. You can find a map here. We walked through the Longenecker Horticultural Gardens. They have a variety of pine trees there. More than I knew existed. It was definitely something. It appeared as though they had just a single specimen of each variety planted in that section.
We wandered through the garden. Discovering a trail headed in the right direction, we left towards the Lost City. The trails for the Lost City begin with an L. The markers on the map don’t refer to trails specifically. Rather, they represent points on the map. I found this a bit confusing initially.
I have seen pictures online of the lost city. Apparently there are parts of it where you can see actual overgrown sidewalks. I didn’t want to wander off the beaten path to go looking for them. Guests are supposed to stay on the trails. We went over boardwalks. We saw marshes, wetlands and a pond. Our daughter Annabelle saw a frog.
I enjoyed our time at the Arboretum. Finding a spot like that, a serene chunk of nature, in the middle of the city was certainly a diamond in the rough. I am surprised I have lived here for well over a decade without hiking those trails. We only saw a few groups of people while we were there. Annabelle is three so she can only tolerate so much hiking. We did carry her once she was worn out. Because of this, we only saw a small portion of the trails. So we have a lot to look forward to on future visits.