The moment we arrived at Macleay, at one of the back trails near a tunnel, I could feel something ominous. I don't know of many places that have a kind of ghostly feel to them. But this one sure gave me the creeps for some reason.
The Macleay park, as it turns out once I did research while writing this blog, has a rough history marked by murders. Just as a ferry was unloading, sometime in the late 1850's, Danford Balch shot both barrels into another head-of-family who lived in the forest. He died instantly. Since then the property passed hands like a hot potato, until it was eventually given to the city by a reluctant merchant name Donald Macleay.
The Macleay park, as it turns out once I did research while writing this blog, has a rough history marked by murders. Just as a ferry was unloading, sometime in the late 1850's, Danford Balch shot both barrels into another head-of-family who lived in the forest. He died instantly. Since then the property passed hands like a hot potato, until it was eventually given to the city by a reluctant merchant name Donald Macleay.
Here is the path we started off on. Immediately, what's striking is the canopy overhead.
It was a good day to visit the park, almost eerie how empty it was.
There were quite a few trails, many of them totally unsafe for children. We took Cumberland and eventually back-tracked to our car. In terms of hiking, this trail is moderate to high difficulty - there are many rocks and mini gulfs in the paths.
Expect joggers to come through quite often. Not everyone was courteous about letting us know they were running behind us - and it alarmed us a bit.
Here is a particularly stunning view of the road. In our phones, the road was lit up like a white cloud in the sun. The two trails took about 2 hours in all, and worked up quite a sweat in our group. We recommend it for grown-up only hiking parties of two or more because our kid tripped a few times.
There is a section of the park we never made it to in this review, so we'll try to follow up on it in the near future when we hike here again. Stay tuned.
There is a section of the park we never made it to in this review, so we'll try to follow up on it in the near future when we hike here again. Stay tuned.
Includes disabled access restroom, natural area, statue or public art, and trails.
Park Hours: 5:00am-10:00pm
Notes: The trails we took were not safe for kids, but the section just after the road-crossing is fairly smooth and less dangerous.
Park Hours: 5:00am-10:00pm
Notes: The trails we took were not safe for kids, but the section just after the road-crossing is fairly smooth and less dangerous.