Originally, I wasn't planning to do Trails Park. It's directly connected to Lighthouse Park, so it hardly seems like it deserves to be considered its own park. However, the official rules of proper park rating state that if there's a bit of green on the map with a name that ends in "Park", it must be visited and rated.
I arrived in the Lighthouse Park parking lot, where the entrance to Trails Park seemed to be located on a sunny Sunday afternoon. It was so busy that there were actually people honking at each other. I found the entrance behind a truck:
It's not very large or marked, so you'll have to look hard to find it. It's not too far from the main entrance to Lighthouse Park and on the left when you're facing that main entrance.
The initial trail up from the parking lot way very steep, but once I was five minutes, in I could barely hear the exceptionally loud parking lot. Despite it being a ridiculously busy day in Lighthouse Park I saw absolutely nobody in Trails Park. If you're looking for a peaceful walk on the perfect afternoon, try Trails Park, because you would never find solitude like this even on a cloudy day in Lighthouse Park.
Although I'm glad I took the time to visit Trails Park, I was right about it not actually being its own park. It has its trails marked with the same signage that exists throughout Lighthouse Park.
I took Deer Fern Trail and I saw deer ferns. Trails Park delivers when it makes promises!
Most of Trails Park looks like this:
I've heard that Lighthouse Park is an old growth forest, but I don't think that Trails Park is. I'm no expert, but that looks like second growth to me. I can tell by how the trees are so much less dense. However, the lack of human traffic now more than makes up for the human disturbance in Trails Park a long time ago.
PPR
Good: quiet, selection of trails (although I only chose one route)
Bad: not an old growth forest, it's hardly its own park, no viewpoints
6/10
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