Harvey and Charlotte Frese were eager to stretch their legs Monday after driving from Red Bluff to Santa Rosa to visit grandma.
Their dog, Elle, was even more anxious to get out of the car.
So the retired couple and their hound pulled onto a familiar side road near Annadel State Park and hiked a few hundred yards to a trail entrance.
They avoided paying any fees by leaving their car on Violetti Road, just outside the park gate.
"We would pay if we had stayed longer," said Charlotte Frese, who recently moved to Red Bluff after living in Santa Rosa for 25 years. "We were just here for a few minutes."
Like dozens of others enjoying Annadel on a spring-like day, the Freses were concerned about budget cuts that threaten to close 67 state parks, including Annadel, by July 1.
But they chose not to pay the $6 day-use fee, contributing to a problem that some blame for putting Annadel on the closure list.
Sonoma County parks officials, who will likely take over operations at Annadel, said they'll try to reverse the trend by installing an additional "iron ranger" cash box on Channel Drive to bring in more revenue.
Other possibilities are the issuance of special parking passes. Annual county passes also will be good at Annadel.
But just whether anyone will pay to get in is unclear.
On Monday, cars lined the county roads outside the Annadel gate as people walked or rode bikes to its 5,000 acres of oak-studded hills.
After a day-long ride, Phillip Hicks of Santa Rosa barreled down a rocky trail and around a yellow steel gate to his silver BMW parked on Violetti Road.
He and his buddy Andrew strapped their mountain bikes on a bumper rack before driving away.
"You're supposed to pay to go in but I park out here," said Hicks, a salesman who comes to the park at least once a month. "Most people do."
Considering the park's popularity, people will find a way to make it work, Hicks said.
On Monday, families picnicked at Ilsanjo Lake, walked dogs and rode horses.
If for some reason the park closed, people will find their way through its porous borders, he said.
"They can't keep people out," he said.
Across the park near the Spring Lake entrance, Mark Frati of Santa Rosa mulled the situation as he pedaled his Gary Fisher near the parking lot.
He said he'd be glad to pay an entrance fee - if he had driven. The off-duty plumber said he rode to Annadel from his home near Santa Rosa Junior College.
"It's easier, better for the environment," Frati said. "Plus there's no parking fee."
You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com.
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