Park Quest #4: Gun Powder Falls State Park

What a crazy adventure this quest was. The Park Quest booklet instructed us to check in at the Monkton Station. From there we had to choose between a roundtrip 2 mile bike ride, a 1 mile hike or a drive to an easier access point. We decided ahead of time to do the hike. It was a pretty day out and was perfect hiking weather.

We drove the hour long trip to Monkton Station only to find out it shares a space with another company that rents tubes to float down the river. There was absolutely no parking anywhere. There were 50-100 cars parked all along the road. We drove around for at least 30 mins trying to find a parking spot that was legal. (There is a bridge along the road too and you are not allowed to park on the bridge.)

Finally, I decided after having the kids complaining (for what seemed like hours) to park illegally in the parking lot and walk over to get our supplies. I told the park ranger we had no where to park. He instructed us to take the short drive to York Rd. option. We were given a bag of supplies and a net. We were instructed to go to an easier access point where we could inspect the water.

The boys go to different creeks around our hometown at least once a week so they were no strangers to getting into creeks and looking for bugs/crayfish. Unfortunately, they had a very hard time finding anything. They made the best of the experience by playing in the water together with the supplies.

Overall, was an alright quest. We would do it again on a weekday early in the morning to hopefully miss the crowds of people rafting/biking.