There are a lot of seldom visited provincial parks and Epsom is one of them.   Access is off Highway #1, but the track is easy to miss with no signage, a single-lane dirt track on a sharp angle and little evidence of park status.    The dirt track angles down a steep slope to a dry benchland.    A sign recommends 4×4’s only for the next section down to the railway line so I parked and walked down.    The upper part of the park is just dryland side-slope.   At the bottom we have to cross the tracks.

To the north is a butte-like hill overlooking the Thompson River on the Oregon Jack Creek Indian Reserve.

A tunnel provides access to the river under the tracks, but it was covered in poison ivy.

The way out to the river was grown over, but the worst part was that poison ivy grew everywhere.   On a few more open patches leafy spurge was in profusion, which can also led to a skin rash.   With shorts on, I carefully made my way to the river bank.

I walked along the river shore south to a flood channel and worked my way back.

In the flood plain were thousands of asparagus plants, now tall with stiff stems and small flowers.  Some wildflowers were in bloom in various spots along the route.   Brown-eyed susans (gaillardia) stole the show on this day.Epsom Park is not worth a long drive in itself (especially with all the poison ivy, leafy spurge, and overgrown tracks), but I combined other side trips into the day, a tour of Venables Valley, and a hike up Red Hill too.   One thing in its favor is that it had some nice sandy beaches along the river, a good place for lunch.