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.

When I want to play Brad Pitt in A River Runs Through It, I run to the Touchet. It's a small…read morestream, but it's the water I learned to fly fish on. One of my favorite stretches is adjacent to this park. I usually park at the bridge downriver from the park and then wade upriver into the park. Most trout are small, but in some *secret* holes, you can find "hogs". The actual park affords camping, a little hiking, and nice scenery. I've taken my dogs on its trails a few times. Beware though---in late spring/early summer the ticks are in full effect. EEeeeeEEEeeeEE! Just thinkin' of 'em makes me squirm!

This review is only for the camping section of the park. We didn't venture into the day use…read moresection, which was across Route 12. The camping section was adequate - everything you need from a campground. Our site was somewhat level, had a picnic bench and a firepit. When we arrived, the picnic table was filthy, covered in cheese, bread crumbs, and other assorted things. We had to clean the area up before we could proceed with setting up our campsite. That was a bit of a bummer. I get the sensation that there is little oversight of this campground. Our site didn't provide much in the way of privacy, and on a summer weekend when the campground is filled to capacity, you are at the mercy of other campers. Unfortunately for us, the other campers on this weekend were just awful, completely unaware that there were other people who wished a more peaceful environment. There were many large groups on the campsites, and some were much louder than others. We had the distinct pleasure of listening to a 12-year-old boy scream at the top of his vocal capacity that he "likes big butts and cannot lie" for about an hour - after he and his friend had spent the hour previous yelling undistinguishable words and sounds. They were actually less distracting than the large party that went until well after 2am. I thought there were live-in managers, but I never saw a sign of their presence. The bathhouse was acceptable, although I wouldn't call it clean. The women's room ran out of toilet paper by Saturday evening, but it was replenished by 6am Sunday morning. The men's room apparently had no issues with supplies. There are also coin-operated showers, but I did not try to use them. As a final note, the park sits in a little cluster of trees with rolling hills all around. Despite the photos, it is not buried deep in the woods the way a Western Washington campground might be. That is a positive or negative, depending on who you are. However, one problem with the location is that there is some sort of air strip nearby because the same small plane began taking off around 7am Sunday morning and would repeat take offs every 45 minutes or so. That was a bit of a rude awakening for a quiet Sunday morning.

We golfed here in August 2022, the green fee comes with a bucket of driving range balls, so come…read moreearly and practice. NO BEGINNING NO END The fairways leading up to the putting greens were manicured so short that you couldn't tell where the fairway ended and the putting green began. That was the first time I've ever played on a course like that. The greens were undulating and kind of crazy, so you need to be very precise with your shots or the ball will roll all the way to the next fairway since there's no rough to stop it. Also, look at the GPS as you approach, one of the holes I completely aimed for the wrong place where I thought the green was. Stay out of the bunkers. They're kind of hard and reddish. I guess it's far away from the beach, no sand. Overall a fun course, we didn't see any wildlife and since we played on a weekday, there weren't that many people ahead or behind of us. NO TREES There aren't any trees here, so there is no shade on this course and you're in the middle of what looks like wheat fields (?), not vineyards, like the name would suggest. The cart has GPS and tells you (and everyone else on the course, with the loud beeping) when you are being naughty and getting too close to the greens or when you are supposed to stay on cart path (par 3). NO BEVERAGE CART! There was no beverage cart when we played, maybe it was too early, but we were hoping the wine cart would come to us at the "Wine Valley Golf Club", but it did not. How are you guys going to make money if you don't sell overpriced drinks from the food cart to the golfers? Recommend: scheduling your wine tasting at Long Shadows after your round of golf since they're both on the same road, about 20 min away from downtown Walla Walla. Or maybe do the wine tasting first lol.

Great course friendly staff love the free ice cold water in the coolers and nice to see dogs are…read morewelcome!

These trails aren't just for winter sports. I've made it here during the summer to take my…read moremountain bike for a ride. I parked at the Sno-Park Parking lot where one would go during the winter months. Here you have a couple of dirt roads to choose from for off-road options. I decided to do some climbing and went for NFD Rd 64--to get to this road from the parking lot, ride your bike further up the valley a few hundred yards (their's a trail), and then take right. This road is fairly nice. There are lots of rock on it, but no potholes. It is a fairly uphill jaunt from the get-go. As I was approaching the top of the valley, I eyed a side road. The sign on it said (6400 500), so I don't know which is the name of the road, but I decided to take it, because it looked tiny and way less traveled (in fact it was closed to motorized vehicles). Nice. Yeah, this trail ended up being the high-point of the day. It wasn't single track, but it was close. I must admit I had the willies when I saw a half-eaten deer leg within the first minute of climbing (the rest of the ride I kept thinking of the cougar, bear, or zombie which was eyeing me from the bushes as I rode by). I love to climb. I love burning my quads like Hades. It felt good to be riding. Unfortunately, this side road only lasted a little bit before I made it up to the top of the ridge/mountain. Here this trail ties back up with one of the major dirt roads again. There are some decent views here. I then took the little road downhill. Man, I'm must be a total old fogie, because wow---I think I rode the breaks the entire way down! The road was steep, and I hit some high speeds within seconds. There were also rocks to watch out for as well. In other words, I rode it like an old person (which I am I suppose). But it was fun. It's the kind of fun, where you just have to yell with abandon (I think I did a few times--with a smile). These trails are definitely good for snow activities, and I'd say they are decent for bike riding. I don't know if I'd come here to do some straight-up hiking though. I'd save the Cascades for that. NOTE: Be careful on this road in the winter. This is the infamous scene of where my truck and my crew rolled down a mountain just over a year ago!

Course is reasonable and in very good condition. Staff in pro shop so nice and helpful. Great…read moreoption when in the area.

First time I played here. Course was ok. Kinda easy. Some of the greens were rough. The worst was…read morethe slow play. Almost 5 hours for a round with not a marshal in sight. When I finally got back to the club house they wanted to chastise me for hitting into the group in front of me. The closest my ball came to them was 80 yards. Just a bunch of old guys golfing slow.

Why is it hard to exercise sometimes?? With the gym, the hardest thing is getting there, but once…read moreyou're there and then finish, you feel heaps better. On Sunday, I went for my first mountain bike ride of the season. I had to put the rack on the car, then I had to drive 70-miles to the trail I had in mind, I had to drive past my favorite bar, and also ignore seeing a movie at the Liberty Theater. So, many things were pulling me away from riding....I was so close to bailing, but I didn't. While going for a ride in the Blue Mountains last season, I passed a dirt road which looked totally enticing: dirt, went up, up, up, and was not very far outside of Dayton. A mental I.O.U. was made. It was time to pay up. First off: the weather was EXQUISITE!! It's amazing how much great weather can elevate the soul. The blues, the greens were so vibrant & pulling--they were orgasmic. I couldn't get my bike off the roof and on to it fast enough. I was off. From the words of Chuck D: "Here it is: BAM! And I say God d*mn! This is a dope jam!" This road hits ya from the gates. It goes vertical within feet (I was sweating within seconds). It was tough, my quads were screaming from the get-go. I was in heaven. The views hit you amazing-fast. You can look down on the Touchet River as it cuts through the valley below. You could start seeing the snow-capped Blue Mountains in the background. Now this part of the country is interesting. You're sort of in between two major environments: rolling & treeless palouse hills and a coniferous pine forest. I actually kind of liked not having many trees around--it affords one huge open views. The views WERE amazing! I didn't get to view 'em too much however, cuz my butt was busy in the saddle biking upward. I still stole views. The road is dirt, but there is also gravel (I assume for erosion protection). I tried to avoid the gravel as much as I could **envisioned biting it on these pointy little rocks**. Most of the time, it looks like the road is flanked by farmland/fields, but I couldn't see anything growing--it was mainly green green grass. I should point out, that it seemed like beer cans served as quarter-mile markers....ahhhh, ya gotta love the rednecks. It took me about an hour to climb up to the top of the valley (about a 1300ft climb and 2.5 miles). As I was thinking of turning around, I heard water streaming and an old decrepit farmhouse peaked at me from the pines in the distance (the pine trees start to appear at the top of the hill). This structure was trippy. Ok, sorry to go Star Wars nerd here, but I couldn't help think of a Sand Crawler. I kept thinking envisioning a glowing-eyed Jawa running around and trying to capture my robotic ass! I spent a good 10 minutes at this old barn/silo (great photo ops here for sure). Then it was back to business. Time for a lightning fast descent. I'm an old timer. Back in the day, I would have barreled down the hill with reckless abandon, but my old age and wisdom makes me wane on speed....a little. I made it down in 10 minutes! So amazing. I felt 17 again (sort of). This was a GREAT ride, and I can't wait to come back. It really does pay to ignore the distractions which try to keep you from exercise. Really, it does!

My Jiu Jitsu journey started here and I could not be happier. A wonderful place that helps you…read moreunderstand your potential. Hard work, excellent instruction, friendly helpful atmosphere. Good for the adult beginner and expert alike. An amazing place for young people to learn and grow. This place and the people here helped me fall in love with BJJ.

Professor Eddie brings jiu jitsu instruction to the Walla Walla valley. He is passionate about…read moresharing his experience with this discipline. Doors are open, and classes are available! What to expect? You have an opportunity to participate with no fees or expectations the first week. Come as you are, and someone will partner with you and your family member to suit up with a gi, and roll with others! It may seem overwhelming to be in a hand to hand position with others. It is quite empowering to learn to command your space and promote confidence in others. Give it a try! If it is not today, just know, there is no judgement! This academy is here when you are ready!