West Lake Park

My wife and I visited West Lake Park on a Tuesday, specifically to paddle the mangrove forests around West Lake in our own kayaks. The park is very clean and well maintained. Park staff were doing some tree trimming maintenance while we were there, and the grass was trimmed and well maintained. There is plenty of parking available and restrooms were open and accessable. The park welcome center and boat rental office wasn't open during our visit and a posted notice listed the weekdays the office is open. Park access was free on the day of our visit but is very reasonable, per vehicle, on the days a fee is assessed. There's a rather steep public boat launch offering three types of terrain (paved, stone, and gravel laced sand), for launching personal watercraft. In contrast, the park kayak concession is equipped with a very gently sloping soft sand beach launch area. I'd have given a higher review rating if the public ramp actually had a soft sand launch option. Once on the water, a single canal leads to West Lake. There are numerous trails and paths among the mangrove forests and we only encountered dangerous oyster beds in two locations. I recommend the park and we hope to visit it again in the future.