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From Marissa's review
Aug 14, 2021
Piatt Park contains a stunning gorge with a cave and waterfalls. When you first enter the park, you find a small campground (10 sites) with amenities - a shelterhouse with picnic tables, both pit toilets and a shower/toilet combo with running water and electric, and a very nice playground in the center. There is a small pull off near the shelterhouse for parking if you don't have a campsite reserved. There are a couple of trailheads that lead down to the trail that heads into the woods and down to the gorge. The scenery itself is beautiful and very interesting, but the hike is complicated by being a little bit confusing. The trails aren't always very clear and the map is a little basic - previous hikers tried to help by adding notes and markers to the maps that are available along the trail. So I'm going to dish the dirt on the trail, because there were some serious surprises we encountered. There are multiple ways down from the campgrounds, and you come to an area by a bench that's at the top of a hill. Once you head down the hill, which is a bit steep, you come to a split that offers East or West Rim Trail. This can be used as a loop trail, since it does connect, or you can do out and back. We started out to the west and came around to a section that overlooked the gorge. It was a lovely view, but be aware that it's a pretty sheer drop and the chain "fencing" was gone in some sections. We then reached a section where we could choose to turn back or head down into the gorge. It was, again, a sheer drop but there were some stairs with railings available to help. This let us access the large cave area and then head further down to view the main waterfall. Because of how dry it was, the main waterfall is the only one we saw and it was a bit of a trickle, but it was still an enjoyable view. At this point, we may have chosen to turn around and head back out the way we came, had we realized what the rest of the loop entailed, but we did not and we forged on. This section is much more difficult and if you have small kids or pets with you, or you yourself have a fear of heights, this is significantly trickier. Unless your pet is a mountain goat, than perhaps it would be helpful as it could show you the best places to step. There's really no railings for the majority of this sheer climb up, and in one section, you actually pull yourself up hill via chains attached to trees. There are a couple of spots with tiny steps to help you get up too. When you reach the top, you'll soon find yourself back at the beginning of the loop and can head back up the first hill. The scenery is beautiful, though it would be nice to have a better idea of what to expect when hiking, thus I share with you my novel on getting in and out of the gorge! read more




















