McKinney Roughs Nature Park

We had a good time at this park with the exception of getting lost and a very negative interaction with someone working for the Harry Potter exhibition. The getting lost part was our fault for reading the maps wrong, but we inadvertently hiked 5 miles with 3 kids and through a series of misreading the maps took the hardest trails through the zip line course, all the while thinking we were heading back to the parking lot but in reality getting further away. The spot where the pine ridge trails branches off to go down in the valley that people zip line above was misleading and the signs were not very clear. We thought we were on pine ridge heading west, but actually were on pine ridge heading south. I had a 7, 4.5, and 1.5yo with me. The baby was strapped to my back which made it much harder. We kept checking our google maps trying to figure out where to go because the kids were exhausted. We passed all of the zip lines and finally came out by the trails being used for the Harry Potter Forbidden Forest exhibit. Those were the trails that seemed to be the most direct route back to the visitors center. We passed a man on a golf cart who saw us looking obviously lost and discussing directions but he waved and offered no help. We kept walking through the Forbidden Forest section, not touching anything but trying to find where it reconnected with the trails back to the visitor center parking lot. The whole area was walled off with large metal panels covered in black tarp. When we got closer to where the paths connect, we got worried it would be walled off, so when we found a spot where the walls had enough space for us to slip through, we took it. Not 5 minutes later, another man came riding up in a gator and I thought, “hallelujah, someone can help us figure out what to do.” He immediately launched into accusing us of stealing from the exhibit, saying he would follow us to our car and take a picture of our plates and of us, then didn’t believe us that we were lost or that we were parked so far away. It took several minutes to convince him that we were genuinely lost and couldn’t have stolen something because we were juggling 3 kids and too tired to do anything but trudge back to the car. After he finally believed us, he took us to the picnic tables they had for guests and gave us water then came back with a golf cart he could carry us all on back to the parking lot. He explained people have been coming and stealing right and left, so I understand the impulse to not believe us, but he said most of the thieves are young couples in their mid-20s, not middle aged people pushing 40 with a gaggle of kids. In the stress of being told the cops were going to be called on us, my husband forgot his walking stick with his sweatshirt tied on it. I won’t say I wouldn’t come back because it was a beautiful park and under different circumstances we would have had a great time, but I felt the trails should have been better marked and I’m in no rush to hike it again with kids. Thank God we went in December when it was cool enough to be bearable

Beautiful park with many trails of varying distances. Visitor’s center is gorgeous and very welcoming with impeccable clean bathrooms. All trails are dog friendly. There are a couple of buildings next to the visitor center, but since we had dogs, we couldn’t get inside, so not sure what those are. Admission fee is $5 per adult/day. The only bad thing is that the trails are poorly labeled, but we were told at the visitor center that if you use the application AllTrails, you should be fine.

Absolutely beautiful! Would’ve loved to walk the trails and soak in more nature. Definitely be back. Loved the grounds and so did the butterflies & birds. Great place to have an event.

This is a fantastic nature park. Absolutely amazing and well kept. I went here during the Harry Potter forest experience and I highly recommend it.

Harry Potter experience was great. Enjoyed the lights and interactive items. Food was also great and so was the butterbeer just wish they would of had some warm ones too. Excited to see what other events happen here.