BIG LAKE PARK
park + open space
Big Lake Park is a 163 acre regional park with interpretive multi-use trail connections, recreational fields including soccer, baseball, tennis, and associated amenities, a hydrology interpretive area, playgrounds, and shelters. The park contains three bodies of water, Big Lake is the largest of the three and is encompassed by natural wetlands and low-lying wooded areas. This area of the park has never been well utilized due to its lack of accessibility and frequency of flooding.
Genus prepared a Master Plan for the entire park including improvements to the north end of the park around Big Lake. Upon receipt of REAP funds, the City of Council Bluffs began implementation of Phase One Rehabilitation of Big Lake Park. The presence of relatively diverse ecological communities in an area of a little over one hundred acres is something to be celebrated and expanded on, presenting a myriad of opportunities for environmental educational programs. Improvements included an access drive with parking, a picnic area, a canoe launch, over 300 feet of elevated boardwalk, a granular path through a low-lying wooded area, and other paved trail connections.
