Yesterday Mayor Strickland issued a shelter-in-place order that goes into effect at 6pm today. The order provides for people to get outdoor exercise, so we wanted to offer some guidelines for safe park use, especially as the park has been very crowded over the past week or two.

Playgrounds, restrooms, and the dog park remain CLOSED, as we cannot keep surfaces sanitized for every visitor. It is not safe to use them right now. If you are visiting the trails or open areas of the park, please follow these guidelines:

• Limit your groups to two people, with the exception of minor children accompanied by a parent or guardian.
• Keep your visits under an hour so that the park doesn’t get crowded and so that others may visit safely.
• Keep six feet of distance between yourself and others at all times.
• Runners and cyclists must verbally signal their approach as soon as they see a hiker or pedestrian, well before they are six feet away.
• Dogs must be on leash at all times. Absolutely no exceptions.

If parking lots are full, that’s a good sign that the park is near or at its safe capacity. Please visit another time.

We look forward to gathering our community together again when it’s safe to do so! We’ll be posting signs in the Rainbow Lake and East Parkway Pavilion areas to remind visitors of these guidelines. Thanks for helping keep each other safe and healthy.