Looking for a nice stroll to take with the kids? How about a picnic and playground for after the walk is finished? You can do all this at Lake Ashby, located in New Smyrna Beach. Lake Ashby is a great place that is a little off the beaten path, but well worth the effort to drive back to it. 

Lake Ashby Park is located at 4150 Boy Scout Camp Rd. in New Smyrna Beach. The park is free to enter and offers plenty of nature, picnic pavilions and tables, a children's playground, as well as a great nature walk. If you have a kayak or canoe you could take that along as well. They also have a volleyball net set up, just waiting for someone to get a game started.

There is a nature walk that starts out on a mulch path and leads to a boardwalk. The boardwalk winds around and goes over Lake Ashby for a while, giving you a great view of cypress trees and cow lili, then winds back through the the natural wooded area, all while you remain on the boardwalk. The walk ends up going in a big circle that leads you back to where you started. The nature walk is shaded when in the wooded area (not when it goes over the lake), and has plenty of signs to tell you where to go, as well as explain some of the plants and trees you are passing. There was no indication of how long the nature trail is, but I would say around one mile.

This is a great rural park to take the kids to for a nature walk, as well as a picnic. The pavilion and picnic tables are right next to the children's playground, so you can set up an area to eat and play, either before or after you take your nature walk. 

Here are some pictures we took while out at Lake Ashby in New Smyrna Beach today for a picnic and nature walk: