POTA Activation #60 and thoughts on Spring Creek Forest State Preserve US-4423
Spring is nearly here in Texas. I was able to get in another quick activation yesterday at US-4423 Spring Creek Forest State Preserve. Located in Garland and just 14 miles north of Dallas, Spring Creek is very accessible. As noted in Wikipedia, the existence of virgin forest within city limits is highly unusual, as the 19th Century settlers in the area typically cut down the forests for use in construction or to clear land for farming.
Noise is usually a problem since the park is right in the middle of the Dallas metroplex, but 15 meters was open and the signals were very good. I was able to get 22 CW contacts in 30 minutes using my Yaesu FT-857d and ATAS-120 antenna. I did not try SSB. Once I got home, I was happy to see this was my 60th activation at 43 unique parks. I’m a long way from a KILO, but with 314 QSOs made at US-4423 I should make this a priority!
The park contains about 230 acres of land, preserving some of the last remaining old growth forest and native prairie in north Texas. The park also has 20 acres of greenbelt, and 8 miles of hiking - biking is permitted on paved trails only. The creek itself is also very beautiful with 20-40ft cliffs of Austin Chalk which contain Cretaceous fossils dated at 87 million years old.
73, Chris de WX7V.
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