Bonita Lakes Park — Attraction in Meridian

I stopped by Bonita Lakes Park on a roadtrip from AL to AZ, and I was overall pleasantly surprised with the park! The view was really beautiful -- hard to capture in pictures.

There is a huge lake, which is encircled by a paved walking path. Along the way, there are picnic areas, an exercise/calisthenics arena, gazebos, reservable pavilions, and a public restroom (which I did not use, so I can't comment on).

My only disappointment was that dogs are not allowed to walk on the paved walking path, which I truly don't understand, especially considering it's a pedestrian-only path, where no biking, rollerblading, skateboarding, etc. is allowed.

Being on such a long roadtrip, my doggie and I were hoping to stretch our legs and enjoy the path, but we had to settle for winding between the parking lot and the outer rim of grass. Unfortunately, it had also rained recently, so there was muck and fire ant beds that we had to try and dodge.

We ended up crossing the paved path to eat at a central gazebo, which had a lovely view.

Overall, this park would have been excellent, had we been able to enjoy the very under-crowded walking area. Forcing pup owners to walk where the cars go is dangerous and...

Was in town for work and was looking for a place to run in the afternoon. This location was great. If you wanted to stay on pavement, you could, although you’d be doing multiple loops around the lower portion of the lake depending on the distance. If you want to venture into the woods, there’s a trail that circumnavigates the reservoir. It’s pretty well groomed and not too rutted or rocky. There are other single track trails that are not as well defined that you can also venture onto. Keep in mind the trail that goes around the lake can be extremely hilly! Some of the climbs are pretty steep and based on my running app, I climbed over 1000 feet in elevation. I had to do a lap and add additional backtracking to get in 9 miles total but if you’re willing, you could do two complete laps and get in a challenging work out! This is a great amenity for the community and wish I had something like this near my house! I didn’t use any of the facilities so I can’t comment on those. I guess this review is geared mainly towards those looking for a good place for a trail run or a hike. Saw a lot of people out there being active, which is...

Its overall a wonderful park. Its a great introduction to the flora and fauna of the region. It has great multi trails through the woods. The main straight walk through is a 5 mile hike. We would recommend to walk through the forest as quiet as possible to catch some of the more wonderful, yet skittish, wildlife such as deer and the like. A great place to get away and go for a quiet jog through the tree covered trails. It has many picnic areas. Its great for family. even has a few pavilions to have birthday parties and/or family gatherings. Fishing is allowed but the lakes do need to be restocked already, of which I doubt their doing unfortunately. It also has a play pen area for the younger ones to play in. The trails are outlined with work out stations for those that can hack...