As many others have mentioned, the "start" of the trail (service road) has a gate that says No Parking. As others have also pointed out, there is a nice pullout just .3 miles south of the start, across from a fire station (that is not searchable on google maps but shows up as a small building if you zoom in on the road) that works perfectly for parking.
As of Memorial Day 2022 there were only a few small patches of snow along the trail near the top, and they were all easy to walk over or around.
This is a nice, easy hike with some great views along the way. You'll end up with a nice lookout even if you just want to go 2 miles up the service road and stop at the true trailhead. The service road you start on does have several other roads branch off it that could be easy to accidentally wander down when not paying attention and get you lost. I would definitely recommend bringing a map/gps just for some peace of mind on that part.
Once you get to the true trailhead it's very straightforward to follow. There are a number of downed trees along the way to the top, nothing that you can't easily go over or around but a bit annoying at times, would be great if those were cleared sometime.
The service road is fairly wide and open, and there's a lot of tree fire damage after, leading to a decent amount of exposure on the way so if it's a nice day definitely bring sun protection. The top is exposed and can be windy as well so layers may be important for you. We saw and heard a number of dirtbikers that day who came up via a different trail, as well as some ATVs along the service road later.
Otherwise there was no one parked when we arrived at the pullout at 8AM and we only saw a few other groups on the way down. It's slightly early in the season but considering it was a holiday weekend I was pleasantly surprised at the lack of crowds. Overall it was a great day hike with some awesome views at the end.
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