{"id":11286,"date":"2022-03-31T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes-2\/?post=lower-lake-lafayette-kayak-tallahassees-hidden-swa"},"modified":"2022-03-31T20:51:04","modified_gmt":"2022-04-01T00:51:04","slug":"lower-lake-lafayette-kayak-tallahassees-hidden-swa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/2022-03-31\/lower-lake-lafayette-kayak-tallahassees-hidden-swa\/","title":{"rendered":"Lower Lake Lafayette: Kayak Tallahassee’s Hidden Swamp"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many people in our community may be more familiar with the Piney Z Lake than Lower Lake Lafayette, but the two are actually only separated by an earthen dam. WFSU\u2019s Rob Diaz de Villegas heads out on the waters of both to explore the connection and the views that you can see from the water.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

I’m smack dab in the middle of a lake, and I\u2019m stuck in grass. It\u2019s not uncommon to kayak through any Tallahassee lake and have to find a path through grasses, lily pads, and cypress stands. And of course our lakes get low. Lower Lake Lafayette, though, is easily the least open of our large Red Hills lakes. It feels much more like a swamp than a lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leon County says as much in its water quality report for the lake<\/a>: \u201cAlthough pockets of open water are scattered throughout Lower Lake Lafayette, the \u2018lake\u2019 functions more like a wetland.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can see this in the map below. Google labels the lake\u2019s open water \u201cLake Lafayette.\u201d This is the area you see from the earthen dam separating it from Piney Z. Lake- where you cross when walking or cycling between JR Alford Greenway and Lafayette Heritage Trail Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scanning right (east) from that open water in satellite view, you can see some blue channels and scattered pools of water in all that green. Much of the lake is under the cover of cypress trees, grass, or other vegetation. Kayaking in the fall, I\u2019m seeing meadows of beggarticks and goldenrod right on the lake. And yes, I\u2019m also pushing my way through thin channels in the grass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Head to the WFSU Ecology Blog to read about the rest of Rob’s EcoAdventure.<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many people in our community may be more familiar with the Piney Z Lake than Lower Lake Lafayette, but the two are actually only separated by an earthen dam. WFSU\u2019s Rob Diaz de Villegas heads out on the waters of both to explore the connection and the views that you can see from the water. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":11287,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":"","wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[136],"tags":[52,1034],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLower Lake Lafayette: Kayak Tallahassee's Hidden Swamp - WFSU Local Routes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explore the marshy areas of Lower Lake Lafayette in Tallahassee and see the views of flora and fauna along the way.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/2022-03-31\/lower-lake-lafayette-kayak-tallahassees-hidden-swa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lower Lake Lafayette: Kayak Tallahassee's Hidden Swamp - 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