Seeley Lake Park — Attraction in Lakewood

It has been, in the past, a decent park. However, since the beginning of the pandemic and it began having negative financial affects on people creating more and more homeless, the park was quickly completely taken over by the new homeless and their dogs. And once the first few homeless people arrived, many, many more soon followed until the park was so overrun and disgustingly trashed and smelled so strongly that anyone driving by could and did smell the stench that the city was required to bring in a large group of police and social workers to clear them out and permanently shut down the park. After the shutdown the city then brought in and hired professional poison control companies wearing hazmat suits to begin the incredibly long process of cleaning up the park. The professional cleaners obviously realized very quickly that standard sized trash barrels wouldn't be effective in this situation, so they then brought in 26ft. dumptrucks. They also were required to keep on hand and constantly use safe used needle storage and disposal due to the incredibly high number of used heroin needles. However, within just 2 weeks of hardcore cleaning everything was abruptly stopped due to the discovery of a dead body that had been decomposing for what they determined to be at least 1 month. I had also heard through the grapevine that the body was found no more than a few feet from where a large group of people not only spent time as a group each day but also right next to where many of them slept.

Anyway, now that more than 15 months have passed, I assumed that the park would be opened up again but the gates are stillocked to this day. I feel bad for many of the people that came uponhsrs Finacial times, however, why must a nice park be quickly overrun and then trashed to the point of smelling so horrid that not even a decomposing body could be noticed?! Even a person without a home can put their trash where it belongs and take a hippie shower either inthe rain or under someone's outdoor hose or faucet periodically.

Somehow, the stench at the park is stl noticeable, yes, even nearly a year and a half later.

Soon though, this once beautiful park will return to its...

Seeley Lake Park is a swamp encircled by business roads and apartment complexes. A gravel trail runs the circumference and is an easy walk, though one half of the view at any given time is the aforementioned infrastructure. There is a brief length of trail with water on both sides, where the ambient traffic noise is almost indistinguishable, but this blessing is canceled out by the copious amounts of trash littering the entire park. It's clear that the park is a hot spot for homeless encampments and has probably hosted a number of late night drunk high school student gatherings. I visited during early March, before most of the flora has returned. I would anticipate the experience being significantly more enjoyable during and after the Spring blooming period, as the greenery will further dull the traffic noise and cover up the unfortunate...

The park itself is quite nice. Lots of tall, shady trees full of song birds. It's especially beautiful in the spring when the leaves turn a dark, lush shade of green and flowers are blooming. Parts of it feels almost other worldly, as if you're alone and deep inside a hidden forest.The problem is it's local inhabitants. All around the park in far corners are homeless encampments. At times, they become visible by pushing a shopping cart across the trail or leaving behind their trash. Some nearby residents routinely walk their dog and do not pick up their dog's wastes, so you have to constantly be aware of what you might step on. The parking lot section usually contain people idle in their cars, doing drugs or eating fast food. However, on most non-rainy days the park is quite nice. Just make sure you don't...