Hueston Woods / Acton Lake Maps: Hueston Woods Map
A few weekends ago we went camping at Hueston Woods. Had a wonderful time. Not far from our campsite was Acton Lake, a man-made body of water. Our first outing we put in at the marina and paddled around a bit. One of the first things I noticed as I got closer to the opposite shore is how much rubbish there is. Logs, buoys, an old beach ball and even a picnic table washed up on shore. What? How could a picnic table get washed up on shore, are there flash floods on the lake? We pondered all this while enjoying a few 24oz cans of Pabst. Mikey C. told us about another picnic table in the water not far from where we were. Two tables in the water? We all wondered why the caretakers of the lake didn't do a better job of cleaning up all the rubbish as it was very noticeable.
The last time we got on the lake we decided to see of a creek that was real close to the campsite emptied into the lake. It seemed like it would but we didn't know for sure. Could we have referenced a map that I had brought camping? Sure, but what fun would that be? We put in at "Creek Access" (ref: the map I linked above) and took the path that stayed to the right (see route marked Creek Access To Lake Path on map). We noticed right away that several parts were shallow enough to have to scoot along, push off the bottom with our paddles or even use our hands on either side of the kayak and push off. About 100 yards what did we see? Another picnic table. That brought the total for the lake to three. And it wasn't just a table on the side of the creek, it was where no park service would put a picnic table. Odd. Overall we found NINE picnic tables either in the water, thrown up on shore, or in a place where you wouldn't expect to see one.
We made it to the lake and decided to go check out the picnic table Micky C. told us about earlier. We went to the table and found that the water just made it up to the the seat. This made it perfect to float next to it and place our beverages on the top. Looked quite comical. There we are on a lake sitting in our kayaks at a picnic table. Look at "Paddle Up Picnic Table" on the map I linked at the top.
On the way back we decided to see if another opening into the lake would lead us back to where we put in. It would fun to investigate another path plus maybe it wouldn't be so damn shallow. Luckily it worked out and had a much more enjoyable route. See route marked "Lake to Creek Access Path" on the map.
I'll certainly paddle on Acton Lake again because we will camp at Hueston Woods again. However the lake is dirty and shallow. I wouldn't go just to drive there, put in, paddle, then go home.
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