Hidden gem could use some polish

Published 9:21 pm Tuesday, May 5, 2015

To the editor:

Today I discovered one of Suffolk’s gems: Lone Star Lakes Park. It has a large amount of pristine green space, woods and multiple lakes to fish in, as well as a horse trail and an archery park.

Since there were no connecting trails throughout the park, we walked on the road, which was OK, but the outdoor experience would have been better had there been a boardwalk to walk on along the lakes and through the woods.

Email newsletter signup

I would encourage the Suffolk Department of Parks and Recreation to build upon this gem and put in a boardwalk that connects the northern part to the southern part of the park and to put some connecting bridges across some of the smaller lakes.

In addition, I would suggest that they put a map of every park on their website, because as we were walking, we wanted to figure out where we were, how far we walked and how much further we had to go to get to our car.

Using my phone, I Googled our parks and rec site and found, to my dismay, no maps for any of our parks. We also didn’t see a park map posted at the entrance that would help us to acclimate ourselves to where to go and how the park was laid out.

With planning and foresight, this park and the Chuckatuck area of Suffolk could be just as instrumental in bringing in local revenue to the city as Windsor Castle Park is in Smithfield or First Landing State Park is in Virginia Beach with the connective boardwalks and map systems they have in those parks.

Ellen Benegar

Suffolk

EDITOR’S NOTE: Be sure to pick up a copy of the May/June edition of Suffolk Living magazine, available beginning May 15, for a closer look at this hidden gem of a park.