Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
Millersylvania – What’s in a Name?
We’d seen the sign many times – Millersylvania State Park – but with a name like that we didn’t expect much. We were wrong – the park had everything!
A peaceful lake for fishing and swimming.
Tiny tables for picnicking.
Trails through old growth cedar and fir trees
and on boardwalks through wetlands.
Private campsites begging to be filled with happy campers.
Just an hour and a half down the I-5 corridor, the park was donated to the state by the Miller family in 1921. Buildings were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1935 and include kitchen shelters, cabins, restrooms and an Environmental Learning Center. With 8.6 miles of pedestrian trails and 7.6 miles of biking trails, what’s not to like?
We’ll be back.
~ Susanne
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 
This park is beautiful! I’m glad you visited!
Thank you! It was a real surprise!
Beautiful photos – what an idyllic place to get away and explore nature! Thanks for sharing these pictures!
Thanks John! I was pleasantly surprised by another beautiful state park so close by!
So cool! I love the photo where you are looking up with the trees all reaching to the sky. It reminds me of a poster I had in the 70s, a circular picture that if you put on your ceiling it made it look like you were lying in the forest looking up! Not that I had mine on the ceiling, you understand…🤔 🌲🌲🌲
Thank you! 😊 I really enjoyed the trees. And when I looked at the pictures I appreciated even more how really big they are! Especially towering over the picnic tables. And it would be fun to have a ceiling mural!
Looks like a great spot, Susanne. Sometimes, we fail to notice the best things almost on our doorstep.
Best wishes, Pete.
So true! I always saw the sign for the park when we were on the way to someplace else. We were on the way to someplace else again only this time we planned a stop and were so pleasantly surprised. 😊
Beautiful photos! Thank you for sharing.
Thanks so much I’m glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
You’re welcome! 😉
Gorgeous! Thanks for sharing.
When I saw “What’s in a name?” I thought it might be about why the park was named as it was. And it reminded me of the place I live, “Anderson Mill.” The logo is an old river mill, and I used to joke when we’d pass by the signs or water tower, “Where’s the mill?!”
One day I actually looked it up, and lo and behold there was a mill in the history of the villages. And there was a historic preservation society that kept it up. The residences aren’t close to it, but I was able to drive out and see it. It still operates and they mill corn meal there that they sell as a novelty item to raise funds for the society. I even bid on a quilt they made, for a charity auction. The mill wheel was irreparably damaged during a bad flood/storm, and the one there now is a replica. But it’s still very cool.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anderson_Mill,_Austin,_Texas#/media/File:AndersonMill.jpg
Not meaning to hijack your thread, but it was just a pleasant reminder about “what’s in a name?” for historic sites–even though it wasn’t what you were driving at. Sometimes, looking things like this up can lead to interesting histories and discoveries.
Glad you enjoyed it and that it triggered a story for you too! The Mill was a great discovery! 🙂
Millersylvania seemed like a peculiar name to me for a park and since I only saw signs from the freeway on the way to someplace else, I was surprised at how beautiful it was.
So many beautiful parks in Washington and somehow I’d missed this one.
These dark and lush woods are indeed a delight to my soul! Beautiful clicks!
Thank you so much! The woods are like therapy to me! 🙂