One of my favorite pass-times is to go to Gray’s Lake. Gray’s Lake is a great place for a casual walk, a nice run, bike ride or just hanging out with friends or sun bathing. After last year’s devastating flood, the park is coming back to look even better than before.

My favorite thing to do is go for a walk on the 2-mile trail the encircles the lake, especially walking over the 1/4 mile long pedestrian bridge. It looks even better at night all light up with a rainbow of color lights.

Here’s some history about the lake from the City of Des Moines’ website:

Through the centuries, the area that is today’s Gray’s Lake Park was part of the ever-changing course of the Raccoon River. Left behind after one such change in the Raccoon was an oxbow that would become Gray’s Lake Park. Residents of Des Moines in the early 20th century remember this body of water as a small pond. The land was originally owned by T.E. Brown, who sold 79 acres on the eastern edge of the property to Gaylord E. Gray. With concrete just coming of age, Gaylord Gray had the idea of mining sand and gravel out of this lake. He started the business in 1917, and eventually his son, Gaylord E. Gray, Jr., took over the operation. This mining caused the oxbow to increase in size, eventually forming a 100-acre lake. The last large project of the mining operation was the concrete for the main runway at the Des Moines International Airport.

Over the next several years, various plans for city ownership were developed but never brought to fruition. About this time, aerial photographs were being made of the city and the large body of water needed to be named on the map. People had started referring to it as Gray’s Lake due to the partial ownership of the Gray family members.

The name Gray’s Lake was suggested and adopted. After the quarry operations ended, Des Moines Marine Company leased the eastern half to operate Marine Beach. Then, in 1959, a Holiday Inn Motel was built on the southwest corner, setting the stage for commercial development. Each time requests for more commercial development came forward, citizens spoke out against it, urging public recreation instead.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted under Living Downtown
Tags: Recreation | Trails | Walking