The Trail To The Garden

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Part 1 of this tour begins at the Belknap Hot Springs Lodge and takes us on a short walk to the Secret Gardens in the woods. It begins with us crossing the McKenzie River on a foot Bridge, so follow along as our short journey begins!

Once across the bridge your first view is of the hot water bubbling from the ground. The smell of minerals and sulfur is very strong here.

As we continue on the trail I take a quick shot back toward the lodge and the bridge across the river. The bridge also contains the piping that takes the hot water to the soaking pools.

A pond along the trail.

Construction of the lodge began in 1907. A diversion channel off of the river was created and a hydroelectric plant constructed to provide electricity. Perhaps this is some of the remnants of that plant? Here is a link to some more information written by a descendant of the original owner.

We continue on the trail on the backside of the secret garden.

At this point in the trail I see a wall and scramble up the bamboo-ed hillside to catch my first glimpse inside the secret garden. More views of the inside coming in part 2.

Another pond as we round the corner to the front entrance.
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Maybe this pond was part of the original diversion canal?

Feel free to make comments or ask me any questions about this post and make sure to check back for part 2. 😀

Photos taken by me, @oldmans, with a Nikon D3300 and some Lightroom post processing.

Thanks for looking and enjoy your day!