Overall this is a lovely park. The scenery is great, the trails are challenging, and the parking is adequate. This only gets 1 star for 4 reasons.
One reason is the parking fee. Most trails I've walked on that were bigger, have free parking, so charging people to park their cars is a little funky.
The second reason is there aren't any resting areas such as benches and bathrooms on or near any of the longer trails. Usually, with professional trials they put in rest stops on trails that are more than a mile long. I know there are some who are people hardcore hikers/bikers that can go up to 5 miles without a break, but most normal people and beginners can't do that and need a breather.
The third reason is there aren't any garbage cans near any of the trails. I understand that normal garbage cans can easily get knocked over or ransacked by wild animals. However part of the reason why there's so much litter on the trails is because there aren't any trash cans. Let's say you're eating an energy bar while hiking, but you have nowhere to put the wrapper except your back pack. Sad to say most people are lazy and don't want garbage in their bag. There are cast iron or hard plastic garbage cans with flaps and lids that only humans can use. Most professional hiking trails would have those near resting areas, if this park had any.
The fourth and biggest reason of all is ALL OF THE FUCKING HORSE SHIT!!! It's everywhere, and the worst part is it's all right on the walking/biking trails. I don't know how well the park rangers maintain those trails, but something needs to be done about all that horse shit. Every weekend my mom and I walk on that trail, and every time there's some form of horse shit on the trails. I've stepped in some at leat twice, and you don't want to know how hard it is to clean horse shit off of hiking boots. I don't know who's job it is to maintain the trails but one of two things has to happen. One is the park rangers have to start getting off of their lazy asses and clean up all that horse shit on the trails, or at least push it off to the side away from the trails. Two is the people who walk their horses on the trails need to either buy one of those butt bags and have the horse poop in that, or take some responsibility and realize that other people use those trails for walking and bike riding and clean up after their damn horses. That's like if the busboys/girls of a restaurant left the dirty dishes on the table and made the customers wash them and wipe the tables! Any restaurant that did that would have zero customers, and the same principle applies to public parks.
You may be thinking this is an unfair criticism, but it's completely fair. Like I said, every time my mom and I walk that trail I have to clean off the horse shit. So unless the park owner is willing to pay me for maintenance, I shouldn't have to be the one to do it. You may also be thinking, "why don't you just step around it?" First of all those trails are narrow as hell, so it's impossible for more than one person to be on the trail. Second of all horse shit is huge, so stepping around it without falling off of the edge is very dangerous. Also those trails in general are very unkept with all the jagged rocks, pine cones, and tree roots everywhere. Call me a spoiled little princess all you want but I've walked on a lot of professional trails and all of them keep their trails clean and free from any major tripping hazards. I almost sprained my ankle when I accidentally stepped on a large rock that was protruding from the ground.
So my final result is if the park rangers could stop being lazy and do some basic maintenance, and the horse riders could stop being so irresponsible and clean up after their damn animals, then this would park would get at leat 4 stars. But until they get their shit together, literally, this park only gets 1 star from me. read more