The Trails

10 miles. Lexington Lake Park opened in July of 2017, and the dedicated volunteers have been hard at work ever since, adding to the popular trail system within the park. See trail details, below.

Location: Park access from Sunflower Rd in DeSoto, KS. - Google Map

Land Manager: Johnson County Park & Recreation

More Trail Resources:

Map from Johnson County Park & Recreation

Lexington Lake Park (LLP) Trail Details

Rose: Rose, the first trail built at LLP, is a beginner friendly loop that roughly circles a beautiful prairie while going through several incredible rock walls. Look for the glacial erratic on the west leg of the Rose loop.

Emerald: Emerald, the next loop to be completed, passes by a fantastic 120+ year old dry-laid stone culvert on the east leg. Bluffs along the north edge of the park have been utilized for some incredible, roller-coaster-like mountain bike trails. The majority of Emerald is flowing singletrack through the timbers, perfect for building rider confidence and allowing for practice maintaining speed through turns. Runners and hikers will find Emerald a gorgeous combination of flowy and meditative trail and technical interest.

Indigo: The Indigo trail loop, just over 3 miles, is slightly more technical than Rose and Emerald, with an additional bluff section. The Oh Well loop passes by an old well, remnants of a windmill, and two foundations that were part of a settlement that predates Desoto.

The Land's History: A crozier spring is in the NW corner of the park. The 1875 atlas map of Johnson county called it “one of the finest and strongest springs in the county”. A 1874 plat map indicates that Crozier Railroad Station was located south of the railroad tracks in the western portion of the park.

The Trail's Volunteer Crew: The “Trail Artist” and UTC Trail Manager for the Lexington Lake Park mountain bike trails is Joe Folse. Over 50 different volunteers have helped on these trails; the main crew includes Gary Fleming, Steve Hiraka, and
Dennis Henricks.