BY DAN HILDEBRAN
General manager
Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park officials held a public meeting at the Keystone Beach Pavilion on October 18 to get feedback on proposed upgrades to the 2,400-acre landscape of sandhills, scrub, ravines, marshes, and lakes.
Officials said they hoped to reconfigure the facility’s entrance and move the administration building away from the entrance on State Road 21. They also proposed to eliminate parking at the branch overlook and develop a walking path parallel to Park Drive, starting near the area of Devil’s Washbasin, for guests to walk to the overlook area. This would allow the park to build ADA-compliant access to the overlook.
Additional projects include replacing the recreation hall near Lake Johnson with a larger facility and eliminating the boat ramp at Big Lake Johnson, which is no longer in use. Officials also want to upgrade utilities at the Sandhill and Turkey Lake campgrounds and move the Lakeview Campground amphitheater to the Lake Johnson Day Use Area.
