It just wow me when I arrived at Limberlost Forest and Wildlife Reserve in Huntsville. First of all, the parking or admission is free and they also have a big room for parking many cars like 10 to 15 cars. The area has five beautiful lakes like Turtle lake, Clear lake, Lake Solitaire, Hickory Lake, and Buck Lake, and other small lakes nearby. All of them have their own trails to go around them or on the sides. I arrived at around 1:30 pm and I had a kid with me so I could not complete the whole trail, and I chose only to complete one loop of trail around Lake Solitaire which is around 6.3 km long. Also, Turtle lake loop trail is 4.7 km long, Buck lake loop is 4.3 km, Hickory lake trail is 2.3 km, and the Steeple lake loop is 2.1 km. 

I could not share my experience with other loop trails because I completed only the Solitaire trail. I started the trail just by walking past the parking lot towards the lake but during this winter time (early January 2022) all the lakes were frozen with thick snow on top so it was hard to see the lake. We just walked across the thick snow and then we could see the sign “Solitaire trail” and we just followed the sign. You would see another sign that said, this trail would pass through private lodges and cottages, so we should keep our noise low. It did pass private cottages along the lake, even though it was in the winter time, I could still see families with kids renting the lodges… It seems so much fun to spend a night or two there with your family, even though it was cold out there, it would be so iconic to see the white crystal snow and icicles hanging from the top of the rocks or enjoy the white winter scenery views.  

They have very nice cottages there including a small cabin and a big cottage. On the weekend that I went there, it was after a big snow there so I think, that was why it had a lot of snow there (it was above my ankle) but if you stepped into the frozen lake, it was so deep that it could reach your leg and the snow could get in our boots.

So I could not walk on the frozen lake as a shortcut, but I saw people with their skis and snowshoes walking on the lake. It was easier for them with those equipment. Even though I could not walk on the lake, it was still fun to walk on the regular trail on the side of the lake Solitaire. It was a bit rocky up and down but it was covered by snow which made it a bit easier to walk. Some trail path was leading towards the private cottage and you had to take a route to overpass it. It has a clear mark to tell us where to go (it is a bit up the hill). Also, I notice that the trail mark sign is clear at the beginning/middle of the trail, but not at the end of the trail (when it is on the hills close to the finished trail) it is not well marked and I had to depend on the map on my app (Alltrail).