Over the past few months, I have explored Woodmoor and vicinity with my dog, Jasmine. In general, Woodmoor is a delightful place to explore with interesting architecture, trees, open spaces and trails, scenic views, and minimal traffic. Often it provides a challenge to create a round trip because of the numerous cul-de-sacs and roads that don't connect. Some roads are busy without sidewalks or big berms and I have avoided them in creating the exploring walks. The roads I avoided are 105, Jackson Creek Parkway, Higby Road, Woodmoor Drive, and Furrow Road. To a lesser extent I tried to avoid White Fawn Drive and the lower part of Knollwood Drive.
While Woodmoor was created with large lots and much public open space for trails, not everything has been developed as planned. For example, six feet at the bottom of my lot on Bent Nail Way is reserved for a public trail - at least my deed states so. There is no trail and I have never seen anyone hiking there. I did try it once and it wasn't very pleasant, although I did see a bear pass through there a couple of years ago. Maps of Woodmoor can be useful, but not definitive. That being said, there are a number of connections to the public areas and those are what I have attempted to document in my exploring routes. I have tried my best to avoid passing through private property, although it is not always clear what is public and what is private.
The following documents routes of one to five miles in length. I used the MotionX-GPXTM app on my iPhone to map the routes. The routes are divided into three areas: north of Woodmoor Drive, middle - between Woodmoor Drive and 105, and south of 105. Parking can be a problem and I have tried to provide locations for public parking that are off the street in a public area.
Blueberry Hills Road is 2.41 miles in length and passes through the delightful Hidden Springs public use area. Park in the public area on lower Top-of-the-Moor Road just off of Woodmoor Drive.
Doewood Drive is 3.14 miles in length and also passes through the delightful Hidden Springs public use area. Doewood Drive has had a contentious history in Woodmoor. It is not a through street and there is a cement barrier on it between Chisholm and Ridgeview with "Private Property" signs. It is not difficult to step over the barrier on foot and I am a child of the sixties that prefers to ignore such limits to public access. I really can't see and problem hiking through there. Park in the public area on lower Top-of-the-Moor Road just off of Woodmoor Drive.
An alternative Doewood Drive route that is 3.15 miles in length and also passes through the delightful Hidden Springs public use area. Doewood Drive has had a contentious history in Woodmoor. Doewood is not a through street and there is a cement barrier on it between Chisholm and Ridgeview with "Private Property" signs. It is not difficult to step over the barrier on foot and I am a child of the sixties that prefers to ignore such limits to public access. I really can't see and problem hiking through there. Park in the public area on lower Top-of-the-Moor Road just off of Woodmoor Drive.
Challenger Homes is 1.96 miles in length and explores a new allotment that is being built on the border of Woodmoor. There was lots of construction traffic. Included in the route are some hiking trails that are located in this area.
Greenland Preserve is 4.18 miles in length and traverses parts of Woodmoor and then through an allotment on the far north side of Woodmoor called Greenland Preserve. I must confess, after parts of north Woodmoor, I found the archeticture of Greenland Preserve somewhat uninspired. I parked in a public areq off Furrow in the far northeast corner of Woodmoor.
Hidden Springs is 2.09 miles in length and also passes through the delightful Hidden Springs public use area. I was exploring the area and was unsuccessful in looking for a connection from the lower public use area to Broken Fence Way. I parked in the public area off Hidden Springs Glen.
Monument Golf Course traverses 18 holes and 4.55 miles along the cart path of the Monument Country Club golf course. As such, it can only be used in the winter when no one is playing golf. Parking is at the Monument Country Club.
White Fawn - St. Andrews is about 3 miles in length and passes through some interesting neighborhoods. At the top of St. Andrews to the left is an access road to the Monument Country Club. As such it runs along side the golf course, but is not on the golf course. It could be used when there are golfers, although I would keep very alert while passing through. I parked in the public area on upper Lake Woodmoor Drive off of 105, but you could also park in the Monument Country Club.
St. Andrews - Augusta is 2.71 miles in length and is probably my favorite walk. At the top of St. Andrews to the right it uses the cart path on holes 1 and 2 to link to Furrow Drive. As such, it can only be used in the winter when there are no golfers. Stay on Furrow for about a block and then down Augusta. I parked in the public area on upper Lake Woodmoor Drive off of 105.
In the lower part of South Woodmoor there is undeveloped land in back of many of the houses. I found out that this was reserved for a planned, but never developed, golf course. As such, it is not a public area per se, but there are public trails through the area. I thought this would be a great place to allow Jasmine to go off leash, but when I did so, she almost immediately found a long dead animal to roll in. She forever lost off leash privileges that day, sad to say. The first route traverses around the area while the second goes through it.
Bowstring Road is 3.18 miles in length and goes around the planned, but never developed, golf course. Bowstring Road seems to go on forever, but has the advantage of not much traffic. Parking is available on Cloverleaf Road after Walters Point or in the condominiums across from the YMCA.
South Woodmoor Golf Course is 3.09 miles in length and passes through trails on the planned, but never developed, golf course. It is a great place to walk your dog as it is totally off street. Parking is available on Cloverleaf Road after Walters Point or in the condominiums across from the YMCA.
Fairplay, round trip, is 2.68 miles in length. Fairplay is fairly busy with traffic, but has a median so one only has to worry about traffic in a single direction. I chose Fairplay because other roads were icy and Fairplay was almost clear.
South Furrow is 1.57 miles in length and is not in Woodmoor proper. While north Furrow is busy and narrow, south Furrow is wide and lightly trafficed. There are some fairly steep hills on this trip.
Running from my house, then around Fairplay, is 3.29 miles in length. Fairplay is fairly busy with traffic, but has a median so one only has to worry about traffic in a single direction. The south part of Fairplay has little traffic and the route is relatively flat.
Around Woodmoor on a bike, is 9.63 miles in length. It is not possible to avoid hills or traffic, but is a fun ride, nevertheless.
http://gps.motionx.com/maps/49b26d7f950a134f4d83ef148edaaeb3