Me ready for a second park on the day that would end up being 4 total parks.
Now a few good reasons for this point to the simple fact that it just wasn't the type of park designed around my primary interests for a State Park.
I could tell from the outset that this park is super busy and serious family/tourist destination in the State Park system as I rolled into the entrance station 4 cars were lined up at 10AM. I got out hoping to snag a paper map and maybe some advice on trails to target. I quickly found 8 or more humans in the lobby about the size of a phone booth and quickly exited figuring I'd look up a map online. Not so much as the cell coverage had zeroed out by this point and I was off the grid.
I then found plan C in pulling over on a road shoulder when I saw a trail junction that had a trail map. I was thwarted in this also when I found 50% of the sign washed out from UV damage and the lines that did exist were heavily faded versions of themselves over white. Later on a hike I found 2 or 3 more signs that were in the same state making it feel like a person might never truly know if they were on the correct path.
Heavy fade or maybe just not a great color scheme as the maps all appeared to be light colors over white making it tough to know for certain what the situation was at any given point.
I soon found a parking area that appeared to border a nice stream and had some bathrooms. I soon found this was a reserve pavilion and food prep was in process directly adjacent to the bathrooms for someone's passing of life celebration and it seemed rude to rumble through and use the facilities. I also found that no trail maps or signage existed seeming to indicate this was not the trail head I was looking for. I turned around and looked at the entrance station again, with another 4 cars of people present checking-in, etc...
Not going to lie I found the whole bit frustrating and annoying, all the while telling myself the park was popular and this was a good sign of a solid place to visit. I made the plan to quick drive the side road and found 3 camp ground areas with a trail head hidden near an amphitheater that had the hiking club sign prominent. An RV had decided to park over 90% of the parking lot, waiting for their spot to come available and I got the last of 2 remaining spots that weren't covered length wise by the RV.
I geared up and started my hike. I soon found the hiking club trail gave me an excellent tour of the Cabins, then the neighbor properties with a burning pit going, the tent and RV campgrounds, and then eventually the entrance road and entrance station building. I was very surprised that during the entire hike I never felt alone, and never felt like I was on an adventure. I found some nice wild flowers, but from a bird standpoint it was pretty rough and I'm certain I saw more humans than birds during this time.
Dutchmen's Breeches in upper left, Virginia Bluebells in lower left, and then Bellwort on the right. All of these were found in great numbers and you could definitely say the forest had a nice carpet of flowers laid down.
After the hike I figured I'd look further into the park and see what the signage for Old/Historic Forestville was advertising. The final lot turned out to be the parking for the fee based history center run old town museum, etc... I briefly crossed the now footbridge to take a peak and came back since I wasn't in a history tour mode on global big day and would prefer to do so with my wife.
Interesting that you must have a State Park pass and then purchase admission to the attraction. Not a big deal if you have a park pass as a normal thing, but a visit to just the historic site wouldn't go well if you needed a $35 pass plus the $8 fee.
The convert to foot traffic only bridge getting to the old town.
I found a prairie paddock and trails arcing off the parking lot and decided I'd try those out as well before leaving. Unfortunately the entire area had a controlled burn very recently (no green shoots coming up) so bird activity was even lower than in the main park trail I had just finished. It is at this time I have to say that a number of trails arc out much further in the park, but I didn't want to get on those as I had already found 3 high water spots that appeared to show preference for horse access as opposed to true hiking intent. I decided now was the time to move and cut my time losses for the day.
The Great: This park along with the adjacent Mystery Cave property likely have a ton of great activities for families looking to get off the grid and away from the city. Plenty of camping, historical sites, fishing, and related adventures and I saw many people doing just that so it was nice to see.
The Meh: This is one of those parks that is not in any way what I need when I go out hiking and birding. It is also possible this place has just crazy good birding at certain times, but I've learned if I bird and never feel alone or in the midst of an adventure then I don't have fun. I hold out hope that a couple distant trails exist that would provide me what I crave, but I'm not sure I'd find out unless I force myself to make another trip.
The Verdict: Got a family looking to get away and do fun things? Then this park is right up your alley. Want to be alone and in the solitude of nature, good luck as it is a well used location and likely to be busy at many times of the year, which is good for the park system.
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