Duncan .
1 Reviews
Pretty much what she/he said. Many parts are breathtaking. …
Pretty much what she/he said. Many parts are breathtaking. I did the hike from the main visitor center to Ash Cave…about 11 miles round trip. Some notes:
I went on a Wed in early Feb. The outside temp was 16 at the time I parked…yikes. But I picked this day as there was no wind.
As a direct result of the above, there were also no people. I simply cannot imagine this place when busy…it would completely nullify the experience. I was the only one at the lot at 8am, and I could still count the cars on one hand when I got back. Perfecto.
It was slippery. Extremely slippery, owing to the conditions at the time I went. I don’t blame the park…it’s probably difficult to constantly adjust to conditions. If you are excited about the idea of going when it is cold, be VERY careful throughout.
If you plan to repeat my hike, it gets weird after the falls. Not even clear where to go. You have to cut through the parking lot to go out back to a park service road. Walk that road a bit and it once again leads to a path. Just watch for the blue splotches on the trees (BT – Buckeye Trail)
Mud – I was quite happy that it was so cold, because I could see many areas where it was very muddy when it was warmer. This is beyond the main tourist area of course. If you intend to venture out, watch for mud.
For some reason my map had me get off at route 180, and take some back roads. Avoid this and just take the exit at 664…I would leave those roads to the locals.
Lastly, I almost gave four stars, mostly due to my issue with signage. I kept looking for a sign to direct me to the famous Grandma Gatewood path! This woman is a hero, and yet there wasn’t ONE SINGLE SIGN for her namesake path. At the start I was constantly unsure if I was on the trail or not. How hard is it to not only provide proper signs, but also give this woman some proper recognition! Add to the fact that I had zero cell signal (Verizon, but prob doesn’t matter), and it made it annoying. – via 
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