French Creek/Marsh Creek State Parks 9/9/12



Heron waiting patiently for a fish to snack on at Hopewell Lake at French Creek State Park



Sunday, Sept. 9, 2012 Me and Dave headed out to French Creek State Park.   It was a perfect Fall day, and who knows how many days we will have like this to take in our great state parks. 

This drive was much shorter than last weekend's trip; a 120 mile round trip for us on this sunny day.  French Creek is part of the Hopewell Furnace National Historical Site, an Iron works village established in the 18th century.  As luck would have it, we missed the turn off for French Creek and went to Hopewell Furnace first; which provided us with the opportunity to pick apples right on-site next to the main office.  I should say I picked apples, cause Dave got perturbed with me when I got picky about which apples to pick- I am a very picky person, but I figure since we get to choose which apples we want from the tree we should be picky.  So we went home with 11 pounds of Romes, Red Delicious and Jonathan apples.

With that behind us, we headed off to French Creek only 5 minutes down the road. 

Dam at Hopewell Lake- Dave on upper right side of picture

The office at French Creek was closed, but we found a ranger at the parking lot and he signed our PA passport for both French Creek and Marsh Creek State Parks, numbers 4th and 5th respectively in our passport (only 115 left to go).  He was really nice to talk to and, he suggested we start our hike on an unmarked path that would lead us around Hopewell Lake.  The Dam picture above was actually located at the opposite end of the lake from where we started, so my pictures a little out of order. 

Beaver Dam located a short distance from the beginning of our hike.  The Ranger told us we would see two beaver dams and a beaver hut.  We really hoped to see a beaver, but on this day had to be satisfied with seeing their home and cleaver carpentry work instead..... still satisfying. 

Butterflies galore filled the air as we made our way around Hopewell Lake.  This one didn't seem to mind me take picturesof it, as it basked on the purple clover.

Aview of the lake  looks like a picture Monet would love to paint.

Our hike took a little over an hour.  Dave did good with his hips, but the groin cramp didn't help.  A short break and a snack from our handy-dandy back pack helped.  This park has so much to offer from boat rentals, nice fishing areas, trails, picnic areas, nice play area for kids, and camping.  I'm sure this must be a popular spot for Philadelphians.

From here we headed out to find Marsh Creek State Park, which has a lake used for sailboating, kayaking, and canoeing.  This park is only supposed to be 20 minutes away according to the ranger.  The windy Rt 345 seemed like it took forever to lead us to Rt. 82 and then RT 282.  Our GPS has come in handy, but without a street address for Marsh Creek, we are on our own.  Now, if you have ever ridden with me and my hubby, you know this can be dangerous.  Of course, it didn't help that it was mid-afternoon and we hadn't had lunch yet, so with sugar levels low, we missed the very small and brush hidden sign for the state park and headed south toward West Chester.  Finally we found a Micky D's, and stopped for a little break. 

We set out for our drive home, figuring we were going to have to miss Marsh Creek.  Low and behold ten minutes down the road I saw the road sign for Marsh Creek.  This very picturesque lake was dotted with sail boats, and actually boats of every kind.  It has hiking and biking trail  We didn't stay long at this park, I think we were really ready to go home and relax.

We were satisfied though that we made it to the park and could be honest to the Ranger's signature in our passport book. 



We hope one of these southeastern PA parks will spark your interest and become a destination for your future agenda.  Until then, keep your hiking boots ready, and may the Fall sunshine warm your toes!

Happy Hiking..... Apryle and Dave

Bald Eagle Forest hikes

Wow, I finally created a blog and hope you check in periodically to hear about our hiking adventures in Pa's beautiful state park system. 

I thought the idea of passing along our adventures in hiking from the perspective of two Seniors that truly enjoy the great natural outdoors might inspire others to get up, get out and enjoy our natural resources.  We are so lucky to live in the beautiful state of Pennsylvania that nurtures a state park system numbering at 120.

Last weekend we were just sitting on the back porch, and I was talking about an article I saw in the paper about Bald Eagle State Park in Central PA, and the PA State Parks and Forests Passport.  Then I said, "you want to go today?"  and my hubby's reply was "yeah I'll go."  I should have know, he rarely turns down the chance to hit the road.  So one hour later we were on the road with an overnight bag and a mission to go to the Bald Eagle State Park.

Well, about 2 1/2 hours later we finally made it to our destination.  A little tired (we didn't start the trip until 3 pm and had already spent 3 hours early in the day at the annual Hamburger Festival.... yes, I said Hamburger Festival) we parked our car in front of the park office.  We were fortunate the office was open, and yes indeed they did have the Passport books for sale- only 10 bucks.  So we got our very first passport stamp on Sept. 1, 2012 for Bald Eagle State Park.  The park ranger on duty was very helpful and gave us lots of info.

It was pretty late and we didn't have much time for hiking, but wanted to see as much as possible.  First we headed up to the Nature Inn at Bald Eagle, hoping they might have a room available for the night.  Unfortunately, a wedding party had booked the 16 rooms.  Would have loved to stay in this new facility that was very clean, fresh and modern looking.  Situated on a hill above the an 8-mile long lake, and across from the Bald Eagle Mountain.  Camping, and cottages are also available. This park would be a great destination for boating lovers. They even have a pair of eagles that nest each year directly across the lake from the Inn.  We did walk around a bit, but knew we needed to head down the road to find a spot to lay our heads for the night and find a bite to eat.  We only had to go 10 minutes or so down the road until we got to a Quality Inn, and 5 minutes from there we ate a a Brother's Pizza (pizza was good).

I love the spur-of-the-moment adventures, and this trip was well worth our effort.  The next morning after having a surprisingly good breakfast at the hotel, we decided to head out to another park.  We took Rt 192 and headed to R. B. Winter State Park.  This gem of a park is nestled between the Rapid Run Natural Area and the Bald Eagle State Forest.  The first trail we hiked was the Overlook Trail, less than 1/2 a mile but felt like much more due to its vertical climb that zig-zagged to an overlook.  The view was awesome and we got our first picture together on our quest to visit all the wonderful parks of PA.

The second trail we took at RB Winter was the Rapid Run Nature Trail (1.9 miles) of easy walking among the old growth hemlock, white pines, wetland, springs and sphagnum bogs.  To me it was the place of leprechauns, full of every hue of green you can imagine.  How apropos that I would be with an Irishman, but I didn't get to see a leprechaun.  Dave was really happy that his hips held out so well after the problems he has had with them this year (I'm proud of my 64 year-young hubby).  This park has bear sitings, but we fortunately did not see any (nor did we see any rattlers which call this park home). After leaving the last trail we made our way to the park office and, yes indeed, we did get our 2nd park stamp of the weekend!  The park ranger and clerk were very informative and suggested we might want to stop by Sand Bridge State Park only 4 miles down the road.  They even gave us a stamp for Sand Bridge- yea our 3rd stamp of the weekend!  So, you know we had to stop to this park, which is not very eventful because it is known as the smallest of all of the state parks in PA. A nice picnic area (a family reunion was going on in the pavilion).

We left Sand Bridge just as it was starting to sprinkle, and ran in and out of spritz of rain.  We had a great start to our PA State Park adventure.  As we continue to visit more, we will keep you up-to-date on our findings.  Hiking is good for the body, spirit and mind and we hope you have some of your own adventures.

Happy hiking
Apryle & Dave