• 3.2 mile loop
• Concrete Multi-user Path
• Flat
• No Automobile Traffic
• Restrooms, Water, and Parking Available

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Description

The Kameoka Trail has been a wonderful addition addition to Boomer Lake Park.

The city park is in north Stillwater bounded by Lakeview Road, Airport Road, Washington Street, and Husband Street and is open year around. There is no fee to use the park. Parking is available with two lots off Husband Street and several places on the park road along the west side of the lake. There are two park restrooms, one on the west side of the lake and another on the east side. Both buildings have water fountains. The restrooms are closed during cold weather to keep pipes from freezing. The park has picnic shelters on both sides of Boomer Lake.

The Boomer Lake Trail is a ten foot wide multi-user concrete path that attracts lots of people year around. It has a center line painted on it to encourage all users to keep right. So far, many different users have peacefully used the trail. These include walkers, joggers, baby strollers, roller blade users, and bicyclists.

Bicyclists are likely the fastest users of the trail and should take care not to upset others. Bicyclists should keep right, except to pass. When passing, slow down and call out "on your left" so not to startle anyone. Always assume children, dogs, and distracted walkers will suddenly step out in front of you, so control your speed and be prepared to stop. Often there will be more dogs on leads than there will be bicyclists. Canada geese have adopted the park and sometimes leave reminders of their presence on the trail, so watch where you ride.

The trail is an excellent place to learn bicycle handling skills without the worry of car traffic. Lots of kids on bicycles with training wheels ride on the path on summer evenings. This is a great time for parents to begin training their children about the "rules of the road." If these kids learn that bicycles are just another vehicle then maybe they will be more willing to share the road when they get their drivers licenses.

The trail is not just for kids. Many adults have gained confidence by first bicycling the Boomer Trail. It is useful for developing both bike handling confidence and building fitness. Time spent doing circuits around the lake will help prepare you for longer rides on the streets and roads around Stillwater.

BEYOND BOOMER LAKE
From the David L. Payne Memorial in the southwest corner of the park, there is a segment of the Kameoka Trail that goes south towards Stillwater High School. Future plans are for Boomer Lake and Couch Parks to be connected by a trail system. The existing trail crosses a cooling water canal (which only has water in it when the power plant is operating), goes through an underpass at Lakeview Avenue, past the Stillwater Power electrical power plant, down the south side of the Boomer Lake dam, and along Boomer Creek behind the Cimarron Plaza Shopping Center. This part of the trail is not used as much because it is not on the main loop around the lake. Watch out for some gravel, branches, and leaves on the trail. This segment ends at Husband Street and Redbud, north of the High School.

Between the High School and McElroy Avenue, the Kameoka Trail follows local residential streets and is not clearly marked. Follow RedBud and Main Streets four blocks south to Tyler Avenue, then east one block to Lewis Street past the Elks Lodge to McElroy Avenue. There is no pedestrian crosswalk across the busy four-lane McElroy Avenue. Bradford Plaza Shopping Center is on the south side of McElroy.

The Kameoka Trail is being constructed as part of the federally funded Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), a program for transportation enhancement projects that is administered by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. For the 2001-2002 program cycle, a new 1/4 mile segment was constructed between Bradford Plaza and Boomer Creek, beginning at McElroy Avenue and ending with an underpass under Hall-of-Fame Avenue. In the 2003-2004 program cycle, a segement will be constructed north from Boomer Lake to Parkview Estates.

See photos