Pleasant Days Open the Door to Healthy Outdoor Activity

By Sunny McKinnon
The Erickson Tribune

A report from the U.S. Surgeon General’s Office tells us what we have heard time and again: regular exercise can increase strength and improve balance, reduce the risk of falling, and help those who are 62-plus maintain independent living status.

Yet, in suburban neighborhoods laced with ribbons of asphalt streets, the drive to get outside and exercise is hardly strong. Traffic impedes our progress. Sidewalks, when they exist, merely lead us to another congested thoroughfare.

Not so at Eagle’s Trace. Here, a carefully thought out plan provides a network of healthy opportunities for outdoor activities.

Throughout the property, beautifully maintained trails wind through the landscaped grounds.

Erickson’s commitment to the environment and respect for the beauty of nature mandates that each of its communities embrace the outdoors, and celebrate natural harmony. A small forest of trees—pecans, oaks, loblobby pines, Mexican plums, crepe myrtles, and more—grace the property, adding shade and interest.

The landscape architects designed the plan around existing live oaks, and then dug up more than 100 other mature native trees for replanting, to provide “instant” shade.

Benches punctuate the landscape, set along the shores of Lake Aquila and in quiet courtyards, offering pleasant places for reading and contemplation.

While the grounds are maintained by professionals, individuals who are gardeners by avocation can enjoy raising flowers or planting vegetables in areas set aside for private gardening. Or if golf is your thing, the putting green gives you a place to enjoy the sunshine and sharpen your short game.

And just across the way, George Bush Park offers serious hikers an extensive nature trail system to explore the thousands of undisturbed acres.