Popular park packs in the visitors

By JACK HOPKINS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Maple Valley is home to Lake Wilderness Park, one of King County's popular recreation areas. The park has swimming, boating, fishing, tennis courts, ball fields, picnic shelters and playgrounds in a tranquil setting.

Dawn Stoner's enthusiasm for the park is common among locals. She dropped her 3-year-old daughter off for ballet class one recent afternoon, then took the little girl's twin brother and one of his playmates to the park for an outing.

"We come here about once a week," the Covington woman said as she watched the boys play on a sliding board.

As an elderly couple drifted quietly past in a rowboat, three young men fished for trout in the lake that is the heart of the park.

Children waded in the designated swimming area at the north end of the lake, nestled among towering fir trees.

Crowded in the summertime and busy most weekends, Lake Wilderness Park offers solitude and lots of elbow space during the middle of the week.

Dan Eberhardt, who moved to Maple Valley from Portland five years ago, lives across the street from the park and uses it regularly. "We come swimming in the summertime. And my wife and I use the tennis courts once a week. It's a good place for kids to play, and there's always a ball game going on."

For those who would rather spend time on a golf course than in a park, Maple Valley is as close to paradise as many golfers will get. It has two courses inside the city limits and three others nearby.