Ryan Bowersox
Google
Absolutely wonderful state park! They have ALL the trails! Walking/running (paved) trails, hiking (dirt) trails, mountain bike trails (that you can hike in reverse and yield to bikes, but be careful!), and they even have horse trails (watch out for the poop). The old road system in the sanatorium was converted to the blue paved trail system. The hiking trails are green blazes, the mountain bike trails are yellow blazes, and the horse trails are red blazes. They have it all! All are well marked with numbered posts throughout the park to mark junctions and progress! In late June, I hiked all the green and all the yellow trails by foot, and a lot of the paved trail too! Logged 10 miles on day 1 and 8 miles on day 2. Excellent! Watch out for the bugs and ticks, I had them buzzing around constantly, but repel was effective as long as you covered all exposed skin with it. You’re definitely out in the woods so be careful with the bugs! Saw some deer (mother with her baby), they did their typical run away, then look right at you with their ears straight up routine. The section of the trails in the back (far right when looking at the map) was my favorite, lots of trees, but a little more open too. They even have outhouses scattered throughout and no joke, they are fully stocked with TP! But please put the seat down when you’re done! People are so inconsiderate when they don’t read the instructions, but it’s probably the kids. Lots of play areas for them, but don’t worry, there are plenty of quiet areas far away from them too if you’re looking for peace and quiet! The one thing they don’t really have is water fountains, but if you’re really nice to Tess at the front desk in the HQ building, you can definately use the water fountain there, it’s got a bottle filling station built-in, so that’s what saved me so I could get all the mileage in, but still stay hydrated throughout the day! Lots of people use this park for activities, seemed popular with the locals, but it definately was NOT crowded at all when I went and the light rains probably helped a lot with that, but it also cooled down everything too. There were some dummies hiking the mountain bike trails in the same direction as the bikes (so they CANNOT see the bikes coming), stupid is as stupid does. But that’s the dummest thing they do here, so you’re in good with everything else. Trails seemed well maintained, except for the mountain bike trail towards the end (which is the beginning for hikers because we go in reverse). Lots of fallen trees blocking the mountain bike trails. Maintenance staff will clear them if reported, so just let them know because they really do care and will maintain the park! Watch out for the widow makers, they are out there! Great staff all around! Great park all around! Enjoy it, but be safe!