This year, I plan to get in as much hiking as possible. The original goal was one hike a week, which means 52 hikes total. This quickly changed to at least 26 or about one every other week because I knew that there would be weeks where I wouldn’t be able to hike. There will also be weeks where I’ll be able to hike multiple times.
For my first hike of the year, I went to Capitol State Forest and hiked to Porter Falls.
I started the hike at about 11 AM. There were 4 other cars at the trailhead but I didn't see anyone around. A few other cars were parked sporadically on the road but I have no idea what they were doing because they parked quite far from the trailhead. Even though there were a few cars at the trailhead, I only saw two people on the trail.
The park is pretty accessible but can be problematic for some. The main difficulty of the drive resulted from the condition of the park’s roads. Once you hit the park's land, it's almost all gravel roads until you hit the trailhead. Mixed in with the gravel were rocks but they were small and manageable. The main annoyance came from all the potholes. It didn’t help that it's been raining because the potholes were essentially all filled with water so it was hard to gauge their depth. On this day, there were a few fallen branches on the road but nothing big. They were easily driven over. I drove a Toyota Corolla on this trip and was able to pretty much dodge or drive over all obstacles. That being said and if I could go back, I would've taken my truck. Having something with decent ground clearance would've made going through the park’s roads much easier and faster.
As far as the hike, it's very manageable. About one mile each way with little elevation gain. Going to the falls, it seemed like all the elevation gain was at the beginning. Coming back, all the elevation gain was near the falls.
The trail was in overall good condition. It was mostly clear and easily navigable. There was only one stretch of land that was covered in mud. Some of it was enough to suck your shoes in. There wasn’t much dodging it unless you go out of your way off-trail. At this time of year, waterproof shoes are definitely recommended.
Porter Falls itself was ok. Prior to doing the hike, I did some minor research to see what the area looked like. Some people posted pictures showing the falls as large and grand. Others show something tiny. To me, it isn't one of those giant waterfalls but more of a small drop. It’s probably only 10-15 feet tall. Still, it was a pretty nice place to be. The fallen trees really added to the scenery for me.
Overall, I think the hike makes a worthwhile day trip if you're looking for something short and don't require much effort.
There's one other thing that I wanted to note. Walking on the trail I kept hearing engines rev as if people were racing down the roads. Getting back to the parking lot, there was a group of people with their quads. They were speeding around the parked cars. The parking space is essentially dirt and gravel so you can imagine all that being picked up and thrown at the parked cars as they raced by. Extremely inconsiderate. I doubt this is the norm but it obviously does happen.
For me, aside from the inconsiderate people at the parking lot, it was an overall enjoyable experience. I don't know if I would do the hike again, but I think it's worth a one time try.
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