Lake Maria State Park Photo Hike

Relaxing hike with the camera

We headed to Lake Maria State Park near Monticello. It was a chilly morning, just above freezing, but warming up. The trails were mostly dry, and it was a really pretty start to the day. I got a few shots, starting with one that looked better in person, unfortunately.

We kept walking and found some nice light hitting the mossy downed trees on a little frozen pond. I also managed to get a shot I was pretty happy with, with some nice golden hour colors. We came across a calm pond next to a cool campsite and got a decent shot even without much color. Across the pond, the water was still, giving us some nice reflections, and a couple of curious swans swam over.

Lake Maria State Park is more like a bunch of ponds and we spotted a couple of deer crossing between the waterways, which was lucky timing. I liked the pockets of light even in the harsher sun. Got a closer shot of some interesting growth on a log, the polarizer really helped the colors there.

It ended up being almost a four-mile walk, which was surprisingly nice. The trail by the water had a lot more to see than our last visit. It was a fun walk in a pretty park.