Brittany P.

Chelsea, OK

Joined August 2018

Anywhere the woods are I'll go there, anywhere I can camp, kayak, hammock, hike, or fish I'll be there too.

Great place, despite the things that happened

It's a beautiful area, well marked trails with wonderful overreaching views. I was there Sept 2nd-3rd, 2017 and everything was gorgeous. But…that time of year those stick insects must have been mating and they were everywhere. Constantly falling out of trees and landing on me, others on the trails were having issues with them too. Also, there's dead trees and signs up about an Asian beetle killing the trees. Don't touch the beetles, especially by accident. They're one of the kinds that have a liquid defense mechanism and you do not want that stuff on you. It smells horrible and will not come off, not with Germ X or any other soap I had…the beetle was on a tree I reached out for when I tripped.

The trails have a ton of up and downs, very rocky, so take your time and maybe bring a walking stick or pole.

There are many camping sites along the trails, they're just nice little open areas with stone fire rings. I hung up my hammock and stayed the night pretty comfy and quiet. But come morning someone had made off with my sneakers…honestly my fault, I should've had everything bagged up or tied down. So on my hike back out to my car that morning I had to wear a pair of chacos…they weren't broken in yet and I had tons of blisters by the time I got back to my car.

But that was my problem. I still enjoyed this place and me and some friends are planning a trip there soon.

Oh and the stone gazebo overlooking the valley is pretty amazing, not only is the view wonderful but there's also town names carved into the stone with arrows and how many miles away it is. I really liked that. Also while I stood there a train was going thru the valley below and you could just barely hear it and follow it along the tracks.