Bennington Lake Recreation Area

This really is a great place to hike. I like to take one of the trails all the way around the lake and depending on which trail I take, the hike can be from 3.5 to 5 miles.
There are three parking areas. My favorite parking spot is the middle lot, not way out at the gate and not up close to the lake, or rather reservoir. This gives me several options for hiking. If I go around the lake clockwise from this parking lot, I’ll be leaving the hill to climb at the end of the hike. If I go counterclockwise around the reservoir, I’ll be doing the hilly part first and then the slow climb out at the end of the hike. The hubby prefers to hilly part first; I prefer the hilly part last. I find the long steady climb out becomes monotonous. We try to mix it up. Rarely do we shortcut the hike and walk across the top of the dam on the south end, as the back side is way more fun.
Depending on what the weather has been up to, some of the trails can be quite muddy, and of course, in the spring and summer months, there are ticks.
I usually encounter only one or two other walkers/​hikers/​dogs on a trip around the reservoir. Only once have I had to yield to horses. This really is a great place for some fresh air and exercise.

This morning the weather was perfect, in the mid 30s, so my wife and I decided to walk around the lake. Great fun.
We shared the lake with a few dogs, a few walkers and a few scouts.

What a cool Army Corps of Engineers park! So the Lake was made for flood control of the mighty Mill Creek (this is the creek which rushes through & under downtown WW — that’s Walla Walla for those not in the know). So, the diverted water flows down a spillway, turns into a stream and then fills the lake. We didn’t really check out the lake, we walked up the «man-​made» stream/​spillway.
There are cool trails, it’s an off-​leash dog area, and the water felt nice and cool on a nice warm pre-​summer day. Only one tick was found (yanked it from Gomez’s ear).