Out on the Trails: Big Woods Lake

This is the third in a series of articles titled, Out on the Trails, which details and reviews different trails featured around the Cedar Valley. According to the American Discovery Trail Society, Cedar Falls is considered a premier “trail town,” and by combining mile counts with Waterloo, the Cedar Valley area boasts over 130+ miles of paved, hard, and soft trails. For this article we will be discussing a popular camping and fishing location known as Big Woods Lake. 

Big Woods Lake features two different loops trail goers can walk on. The first loop is completely paved and the north includes a campground, parking access, and fishing areas. The southern end also includes parking spacing and some fishing areas. The second look laps around other smaller bodies of water in the area. Some of this second trail also does not feature paved road, so it is not access friendly.

In terms of geographical location, the park is surrounded by a forest and of course its lake. The Cedar River is right next to this area as some of its water flows directly into Big Woods. These two water sources directly impact the life native to the area. Various waterfowl such as ducks, coons, geese, and herons can be spotted along the water’s edge and floating in the lake. Turtles such as the north american painted turtle also litter the grass lands and areas with calmer waters. As for fish enthusiasts, bluegill, catfish, largemouth bass, and so much more can be found here. Boating dock access is also available if you want to take your chances out on the water.

For this trail, it approximately takes about an hour or so to walk around the paved campground loop and another hour for the non-paved loop. With bikes this time would likely be cut in half. All in all, it is a wonderful trail with a wonderful location. Surrounded by forest it is easy to find yourself in peaceful bliss alongside nature. The paved path is a good opportunity to walk around without too many bumps or rough terrain to navigate. The camp ground does bring some litter, however the park is well managed by Cedar Falls.  

So if you want to head out to Big Woods Lake this summer, to fish, walk, or simply hang out by the water, head down Big Woods Road to find this gem of a park.