Last weekend we took a drive to Hobuck Flats to check out the hiking and fishing, as we had not been here before. Here is how I came to a respectable 3-star rating:
** Hiking - 3 Stars: Parking is next to a walking bridge that goes across 18 Mile Creek. On the other side you can go straight to a trail that runs along the creek to the waterfall. It is fairly narrow. You cannot move much to either side because you're on a hill or in the creek. It was fairly crowded the day we were there, and this was not ideal for social distancing. The trail splits shortly down the creek to go to either the top or the bottom of the waterfall. I did not go to the bottom of the waterfall, as that part of the trail was even more narrow and there were too many people. I did climb the hill to the top of the waterfall, which was a short five minute walk. From the top, you cannot see much of the falls, the real view is from the bottom. As far as I can tell, the trail ends at the falls but I did not get to explore as much as I'd have liked to know for sure.
** Fishing - 4 Stars: When you cross the bridge, you can also go left, down under the bridge to a rocky area along the creek. On a typical day, there would be enough room down here to spread out and fish all along this side of the creek. But again, it was more crowded than nature usually tends to be. The creek was muddy this day after a lot of rain, so not many folks were pulling out fish. But when the weather stays nice and the creek settles, it is probably more flush with fish.
** Parking - 2 Stars: The road is windy, narrow and somewhat steep down to the parking area. The lot can accommodate about ten cars. It was full when we got down there, but luckily someone was just leaving and we could squeak by to grab the spot. Others who were not so lucky parked along the steep, windy road. It might be hard to maneuver a larger vehicle down there when it is full. So parking can be a tricky here.
So 3 stars it is. The trails were short, there are no bathrooms, no tables or picnic areas either, and the parking is crammed when busy. But there are still positives here, like a beautiful waterfall (which I would like to see better someday when it is less crowded), decent fishing potential (we ventured off the path and found some spots we'd like to try again), and pretty decent bird watching (lots of blue jays!). Overall it was nice enough at Houbuck that we'll be back again soon to relax creekside, and hopefully snag a few fishies. read more