Nice park even when the parking lot is closed for the winter…read more I use the park as the starting point or a turnaround point of a walk along Mill Creek or a walk from here to Bennington Reservoir (lake). As the turnaround point, leaving the car at WWCC ball park and walking up to Rooks puts the cold breeze at your back on the way back down. If you leave your car outside the locked gates in the winter months at the park, you can just walk in and take a hike up to Bennington or walk down to WWCC or even further into Walla Walla along the trail. I like the last part of my hike or walk to always be the downhill part. In the summer, this can be a nice place for a family gathering, a picnic (tables available or barbeque pits), or a little activity. However, check for ticks in the spring and summer months especially if your wanderings take you out among the flora and fauna.

This park has character as it is close to the city but is quite rustic…read more It has all the usual accoutrements of a park--kid play area, bathrooms, grass, picnic areas, barbecue pits, horseshoes, tables, a dam, a bridge, a creek, a stream, some great trees and lots of parking. OK, so most parks don't have a dam and a bridge, but some do, right? It is attached to Walla Walla by the Mill Creek Recreation Trail which is over a mile long and is perfect for a daily walk as it runs alongside Mill Creek. It is next to the Bennington Lake Recreation Area which increases your options for entertainment. Dogs are welcome at Rooks Park but should be on a leash. Horses are also welcome, but they cannot use the bridge. The parking lot is closed for most of the winter so you may have to park outside the gates if you arrive at an out-of-season time.

This really is a great place to hike. I like to take one of the trails all the way around the lake…read moreand depending on which trail I take, the hike can be from 3.5 to 5 miles. There are three parking areas. My favorite parking spot is the middle lot, not way out at the gate and not up close to the lake, or rather reservoir. This gives me several options for hiking. If I go around the lake clockwise from this parking lot, I'll be leaving the hill to climb at the end of the hike. If I go counterclockwise around the reservoir, I'll be doing the hilly part first and then the slow climb out at the end of the hike. The hubby prefers to hilly part first; I prefer the hilly part last. I find the long steady climb out becomes monotonous. We try to mix it up. Rarely do we shortcut the hike and walk across the top of the dam on the south end, as the back side is way more fun. Depending on what the weather has been up to, some of the trails can be quite muddy, and of course, in the spring and summer months, there are ticks. I usually encounter only one or two other walkers/hikers/dogs on a trip around the reservoir. Only once have I had to yield to horses. This really is a great place for some fresh air and exercise.

This morning the weather was perfect, in the mid 30s, so my wife and I decided to walk around the…read morelake. Great fun. We shared the lake with a few dogs, a few walkers and a few scouts.

Great park (dog park too) for the whole family. Stopped…read morehere about 1/3 of the way on our 6hr trip to let everyone stretch and play. We had our travel trailer and the parking lot was large enough to accommodate. There is a large covered pavilion with picnic tables and an air pump for bikes. Nearby walking/bike trails. The play area for the kids is awesome and the dog park was separated for large/small dogs. Across the bridge was a trail with a story walk Bathrooms were closed for the winter season but there was a porter-john which was clean.

Nice little park in La Grande for a quick break or picnic. Clean amenities and grounds. Close…read moreenough to hwy 84.

This is a cute park. Swings, slides and picnic tables. Parking is easy and the park was clean. My…read moreson had a great time on this perfect sun shining Sunday!

Great stop for the kids as we are traveling through Walla Walla visiting wineries. Water park and…read moreregular park. Lots of shaded picnic tables.

Very nice park! Just moved to the area and so glad I found this park, it has enough space and a…read morenice hill for my furry babies to run and waste their energy. Definitely bigger than the ones they were used to around our city in Southern California! All the dogs were so friendly, can't Wait to keep bringing them back

We are driving thru from Austin Texas & decided to stop and let my 20lb mini golden doodle out so…read morehe could run. Two ladies that were there told me that my dog was too big for the small dog area cause her dog had a bad back & she didn't want my dog to play with hers. I assume that this a public dog park but I guess it belongs to them! Thanks for the welcome to Walla Walla, Washington ladies!

We took a two hour detour to visit Palousa Falls today and if I could do it over again, I would opt…read morenot to make the drive. The roads are terrible, especially the gravel road leading up to the park. We did not have the Discover Pass so it was a $10 day use fee. There were clean restrooms and a few shaded picnic spots but no cell service. It was too hot to do any real hiking, as the only shade is near the parking lot by the tables, but we did walk to a few different viewpoints. I actually found the rock formations above the falls to be as lovely or perhaps lovloer than the falls. It was a bit underwhelming to me for the amount of effort needed to visit but, but one girl's "meh" is another girl's "wow" so I hope the photos and information are helpful to anyone trying to decide whether to make the voyage.

Palouse Falls State Park blew me away with its thunderous 198-foot cascade plunging into the…read moreancient basalt canyon--springtime rainbows danced in the mist during my April visit, while golden grasslands framed the scene perfectly. Short, easy trails from the parking lot offered jaw-dropping overlooks, picnic spots hummed with families, and spotting marmots added delight. Remote drive? Totally rewarding--nature's masterpiece!

This hike happened by happenstance…read more A friend and I were supposed to go up to Horseshoe Prairie (http://www.yelp.com/biz/horseshoe-prairie-nordic-ski-area-pendleton) for snowshoeing, but unfortunately, I let my friend drive and he was a little too confident about his car's snowy-road-handling ability. After spinning tires a time or two, we canned our fun-in-the-snow plans, turned around, and slid down the hill to civilization. While picking up chocolates at Petite Noirs (http://www.yelp.com/biz/petits-noirs-milton-freewater), the owner mentioned a nearby hike. To not make the day a total loss, we were all ears, and went for it. Just off of main street in Milton Freewater, you take the turn off for Harris Park (as you're driving south out of town, it'll be the left BEFORE you take the hill up and out of town). You then drive about 10 miles up a canyon carved by the South Fork of the Walla Walla River. This canyon is part of the Blue Mountains, and it's amazing to see how quickly the landscape changes from the drabby flatness of Milton-Freewater to the alpine-y beauty of the Blues & Walla Walla river. Once you're in the area of the park, keep going until you approach the trailhead for the South Fork Walla Walla River trail. Here there are quite a few parking spots, a couple of restrooms and river bubbles within earshot. You are clearly outside of civilization and within an honest to goodness country landscape. The deep valley is beautiful and the trail looks inviting. For the most part the trail parallels the river. Sometimes it sidetracks and goes up the side of the valley wall, but the river is always within view. The trail is well-kept and nice (other than a few boggy/muddy spots). We went for about 2.5 miles on the trail before calling it a day. We enjoyed sightings of elk at one spot (we later saw herds of deer, turkey, and even a scooting coyote during our dusk drive out). I'm so glad I made it here. I can definitely see myself coming back to dip myself within the magic waters (à la Field of Dreams) and fly fishing the stream (à la A River Runs Through It). I've also heard that you can ride your mountain bike here too---I'd also be down for that! South Fork of the Walla Walla Trail. I will see you again---very, very soon.

This was a great hike with my dog. Very turn their was a beautiful view of the Walla walla River…read more Trail was in decent condition. Plenty of parking at the trailhead.

This historic site serves as a reminder to a part of American history that is pretty much…read moreoverlooked: the clashes between settlers and the Native Americans who already were inhabiting the land. Physician Marcus Whitman and Narcissa Whitman established the Whitman Mission in Cayuse (Native American) territory. The Cayuse initially welcomed the Whitmans, but as the increasing numbers of settlers passing by on Oregon Trail worried the Cayuse, tensions grew. It all came to a head when a measles outbreak in November 1847 killed half the local Cayuse. The settlers were also affected, but fared better. The Cayuse took it to mean that the Whitmans were responsible for the deaths of the Cayuse, as to them, the doctor was the cause of death. The Whitmans and 11 other people were killed, and others taken hostage, sparking the Cayuse War. It ended when five Cayuse men were turned in for being the perpetrators (without clear evidence) and hanged. The visitor's center is built on the site of the mission. The center has a gift shop, a movie, and a small museum to explain the events that occurred here. Outside, there is a trail that brings you to a memorial obelisk, and meanders past the foundations of the mission buildings.

My visit here was awesome and I learned so much about a really pivotal (and sad) moment in history…read more The grounds are beautiful, the small museum was well done, the staff were excellent, and the history at the site is really fascinating. I will definitely be back again some day.

This is a fun park with lots of things to climb on right by the river. It was super cold out so we…read moreonly lasted 30 min, but I was able to walk around the park and see the kids well.

I like this place! I was in town with my son for a church function and I took him here and he quiet…read moreenjoyed it. There are many play structure and water play structure that are fun. His highlight would be taking a ride on the mock up train that took us around the lake and the area. He pretty much passed out after few hours in this place. Highly recommended.