It's great that the NFS put up this sign, but it's another matter entirely whether it will have any effect.
This is the highest point on the trail. If you park here and walk it as a loop, you descend from here into the valley and climb out when you return.
If you walk the whole 8.6 mile loop, the cumulative gain in elevation is about 1,000 feet (according to the GPS). This is a plausible figure because the loop trail (hiked clockwise) drops into the valley, climbs out onto a ridge, drops down again into the North Fork Saline River bottom and then climbs back up to the trailhead, which is the highest point on the trip.
