Sope Creek Trail and the Paper Mills

The weather was uncommonly glorious this MLK Holiday weekend and we made sure to take advantage of that and get out of our house this Saturday. We decided to take the girls on a little hike at a nearby trail that runs along Sope Creek just 10 minutes from our house. I was excited to visit because the creek boasts several ruins of old paper mills that used to operate in the area. (In fact, the road that leads to the trails is called Paper Mill Road and our local ward (congregation) is the Paper Mill Ward.)

There are several trails that break off and meander throughout the park. We started off on an easier path that led to a small lake. Zara wanted to collect all the sticks and leaves she could find.

Adelaide walked more than half of the trail herself. She did a good job keeping up with us even if she did slow us down. (David and I like to walk fast.)

Sope Creek. 

Our chosen trail deadended at the Creek so we had to backtrack a little to get to the ruins. We could see one across the river but we had to go a long way around to get to it. 

 Hello from inside the paper mill!

All the ruins were constructed of stone and were mostly pretty well preserved. The roofs had probably been wood and those were all gone.

Adelaide didn't know what to make of sitting in one of the windows.

More ruins across the river. David got down into these ruins and explored more. He took some photos on his phone but I haven't seen them yet.