Lake Titloe walking path open to the public
September 7th, 2006
A community effort has made the half-mile walking/biking path near Lake Titloe a reality. Pictured on the path, from left to right, are Jim Swanson, chairman of the Lake Titloe Beautification Committee; Doug Quast, Gaylord Mayor; and Darrel Frauendienst Jr., who provided gravel for the walking/biking path.
By Jim Swanson, Lake Titloe Committee
The walking path in east Gaylord’s Park Preserve is open for anyone to use now. The route starts at 1020 Lakeside Drive close to the wetlands. It travels west through the woods and goes back east on the former Woodland Drive road. It then proceeds northeast through the woods towards Lake Titloe.
It follows the southeast shore of the lake to the edge of the wetlands. It is a little over one-half mile long. It has a gravel base that is easy to walk on or ride a mountain bike on.
The Lake Titloe Committee plans to make benches out of logs for the rest areas. There also will be places where people can leave the path and walk along the sandy beach of the lake.
Andrew Rassmussen, a local Boy Scout, is making signs for the path as part of his Eagle Scout Project.
Jim Swanson, Lake Titloe Committee Chairman, stated there are plans to label the vegetation/wildflowers along the eight foot wide path in the next year.
Many people have made the project possible: Greg DeVries cleared a lot of brush and fallen trees. The Sibley County Sentence to Serve Program, under the direction of Randy Schumacher, helped clean up debris and burn brush. Al Odenthal used his bobcat to clear many logs and construction debris out of the pathway. Loftness Manufacturing of Hector donated their brush cutting machine to clear the entire path. All the work of these individuals was donated.
To put the final touches on the path, the city of Gaylord authorized the Lake Titloe Committee to contract with Darrel Frauendienst, Jr. to put four inches of gravel base on the path. This was all completed this summer. He also did a fine job of making the path a reality for the community.
More work needs to be done on the path in regards to grooming and future extension plans. One future plan is to have a system of trails within the city of Gaylord and have them hook up with the path in the Preserve.
Anyone who would like to work with this or has ideas for making this a great addition, can contact members of the committee at any time. They are Larry Podratz, Darrell Mosel, Jim Swanson, Greg DeVries, Jean Berg, Donna Weiss, or Cal Schrupp.
