On an overcast Wednesday afternoon in late April, myself and a group of folks from Madison Greenway & Trails went on an exploratory walk through undeveloped land surrounding Betts Springs. The land was currently owned by the Madison Water Authority; a group wanting to sell all but the minimum amount needed to protect the city's wellhead. This GPS track roughly depicts our journey.

We wanted to evaluate the land for potential recreational use. After parking our cars at the old city dump, we headed east into the pine forest behind the Liberty Manor subdivision.

The walking was easy at first, over land that had obviously been cleared not too many years ago.

Davis checking out a fairly wide creek we had to leap over.

Except for occasional thorny patches, the eastern side of the property was reasonably flat and accessible.

A few old trees like this majestic twin spread out among the ubiquitous pines.

After a surprisingly short (at least, it felt that way to me) hike north, we ran into the back end of a subdivision, and thus the water board's property line.

The north-south line at that point was well demarcated by a cleared path. I'm not sure it that was an old tree line or what.

Just to the west along the northern border, we found the city pump house facility.

Toward the center of the property, the going got a little tougher.

This little open meadow with its splash of color was a welcome change from all the briars.

Another subdivision on the northwest corner of the wetlands triangle.

Walking southeast from the pump house, we skirted the right edge of the true wetlands. This was the part of the proposed 200'-wide buffer zone proposed by the water board's engineering firm to protect the water supply. This spot was fairly near Betts Spring itself, according to my topo map.

After snaking about 500' or so down the edge of the water, and getting out boots really good and muddy, we backtracked our way to the pump house and crossed over to the western side of the property. From there, we were rewarded with excellent elevated views of the wetland area.

Scenes like this are disappearing fast in Madison. The late afternoon sun casting its softening light on the far tree line was beautiful. This was a great way to spend a few hours after sitting behind a computer all day.

The western side of the property appeared to me to be a little wilder than the eastern side, with fewer pine trees and more varied terrain. With the sounds of traffic from nearby Balch Road loud in our ears, we turned back after reaching this drainage ditch.

Scenes like this are disappearing fast in Madison.

The late afternoon sun casting its softening light on the far tree line was beautiful. This was a great way to spend a few hours after sitting behind a computer all day.

The western side of the property appeared to me to be a little wilder than the eastern side, with fewer pine trees and more varied terrain. With the sounds of traffic from nearby Balch Road loud in our ears, we turned back after reaching this drainage ditch.