Maynard Lake is the twin lake to Oat Hill Lake where I live. They are separated by a hill. Joffre Street is the top of the hill and Maynard Lake and Oat Hill Lake are on opposite sides of the hill. Maynard Lake is slightly higher above sealevel than Oat Hill Lake. Some of the water from Maynard Lake drains underneath the hill into Oat Hill Lake. All the houses along Oat Hill Lake have special drainage pipes in their yards between every 2 houses that funnel the water directly into the lake.
Unfortunately, Maynard Lake is not swimable. The water is too poluted and the reasons for it are not known right now. At the beginning of summer I heard that there were tests being done to figure out if the pollution could be reversed. So far I have not heard anything about the results.
I started my walk on the eastern side of the lake, by taking an almost hidden path down from Lakefront Road. For a long time I did not realize that it was also possible to walk around this lake. Not many people are aware of it either as in places the paths are quite overgrown. The children in the area are, however, well aware of the paths and the woods around the lake and use them as their playground.
I don’t know where and how the lake drains. I imagine that it drains into lake Banook that is to the North of it. The far end, as I call it, is kind of marshy and there’s where there is this old boardwalk. Some of the boards are old and brittle, but it is still safe to walk on them. It is really pretty there and quite protected.
Now I am continuing on the path on the western side of the lake. Here there are houses that have backyards that come all the way down to the water. Too bad, that the water isn’t safe to swim in any longer.
At the Portland Street end there is a lovely beach with lots of ducks. There is no public swimming at the lake as it is too polluted. This is also the end of the path around the lake as at the end of the beach there is no path visible any longer.