I know it's hard to visit a state park when it costs $10.00 a day....so why don't you just save up the $30.00 for an annual Discover Pass...you can get them at Work/Sports here in town. When you get it, you are paid up for a whole year to visit all three state parks close by...as well as others all over our beautiful state.
I wrote about Deep Lake aka Nolte State Park, in my previous blog...my first. Place your annual Discover Pass on your dash board and visit the most peaceful place in the off-season months and a busy place to cool off in the summer. The trail is always a relaxing 1.4 mile walk around the lake any time of year.
But I digress...that happens sometimes when I think of the wonderful places that I have been that are so close to home. Having grown up here, Deep Lake, Flaming Geyser and Palmer/Kanasket were places we went often before they became state parks. Flaming Geyser was where my dad and John T fished for steelhead or white fish. You wouldn't believe all the stories from those two!! All of us kids learned how to cast a rod on the Green River. Later it was my husband and I fishing together, often joined by Bob J....more stories!!
This 480-acre park on the Green River was privately owned and operated from the 1920's until the 1960's when the state rescued it from bankruptcy. As my dad told it, the owner offered the property to him and John T for $18,000...a fortune at the time for two guys in their early 20's, in the mid-1950's.
The park is tucked away in a beautiful moderate rainforest that offers much to the public. It's many trails are there for all to enjoy. They vary from a wide-mowed trail around fields of daisies, to a gentle walk along the river, to a couple of trails up the hill or upriver to the canyon. Hiking, rafting, fishing, and even model-airplane flying are activities you may enjoy here. You may even learn a thing or two from the interpretive signs scattered here and there. The picnic areas can accommodate large groups or small family gatherings. There are covered areas, a playground, horse shoe pits, and poles for volleyball or badmitton...bring your own nets, horse shoes, etc. Some places have convenient handcap access. You can easily spend an entire day in paradise...sorry, no overnite camping.
They are undergoing some update construction...I'll check it out and report back. But you are still invited to discover or re-discover the treasures this state park has to offer. Ok, that's 2 near-by parks...2/3 of your annual Discover Pass cost. One more, and it's paid for. Then you can enjoy them over and over for a year!! I call that a good deal!! Next blog....Palmer/Kanasket State Park :-)
