SeanReedy wrote:I think many of us are curious about what "closed" will really mean. Is the side not being closed not a part of the park, or is thought going into cuts to try to make the best of the situation?
The north side of Hood Mountain is accessed via a regional park that is contiguous with the state park. "Closing" the part of the park that the ranger (seems to have) mentioned is dumb, since the park provides no infrastructure or services other than a parking pullout along the road. The Goodspeed-Nattkemper trail itself passes through completely wild territory., which the park does nothing to handle, as far as I can tell.
As far as the local state park up in this neck of the woods, I hope they close it and sell it to the Forest Service. Castle Crags SP is a farce to begin with, since the Crags aren't actually in the park. All they do is collect an entrance fee to let you hike on the National Forest. The SP does provide a campground, but the FS can take it over pretty easily.
This is not to say that I am for closing the State Parks, I just do not like Castle Crags SP. I think that the state needs to get its act together and allocate the funds to the things they actually have a responsibility to do, not through money down the hundreds of ratholes they are currently shoveling it all into. MORE billions for a high speed rail? How many billions is that going to take now? I bet the current budget of
this non-existent agency would cover the state parks supposed shortfall.