Today we did an early morning hike at Bear Creek Preserve. I’m hanging onto what’s left of spring because soon it will be too hot and humid to be out on the trails. The east coast is now transitioning into summer. Personally, I think it’s the worst time of year for hiking. This time of year I wish I was back in SoCal where we could escape to the High Country where the mountains are cooler at elevation. Don’t get me wrong, the trails still got hot, but we knew to be up before dawn and done with our hike by mid-morning. I think I am conditioned from hearing the countless stories of SAR having to rescue people off the mountains because of heat stroke and dehydration. Maybe Pennsylvanians are are a heartier bunch? I’m not really sure. But hiking in heat is not for me. However, back to the hike today… Pennsylvania’s state flower, the mountain laurel, is in full bloom. Clusters of flowers in shades of white and pink adorned the lush, green trails as we meandered along the undulating trail in and out of hardwoods. We started our hike today just off Rabbit Run Lane on the red trail. The trail took us up to the top of the first waterfall and then dipped down to the creek where we picked up the gray trail. The bridge to get across Shades Creek had been blown down by a storm, but it has since been replaced. After crossing the bridge, the trail continued along the creek passing by sparkling cascades and winding in and out of rhododendron tunnels. It took us through a forest of hemlock and white pine and eventually to the spur trail to the bottom of the first waterfall that we’d seen from the top. The last time we were here it was in the winter when we were snowshoeing. Bear Creek Preserve is a beautiful preserve. It has enough variety in scenery so that you don’t get bored since there’s not a whole lot of elevation. We closed the loop at about 6 miles. It was an enjoyable day.
February of 2021 brought the Lehigh Valley 38.8 inches of snow, the highest amount for the month to date. The days have been dark and gloomy, but today the sun made a glorious appearance. It was bound to be an amazing day, so we gathered our gear and headed out on the road into the Pocono Mountains. Our destination was Natural Lands Bear Creek Preserve. The early morning temperature was 19 degrees and the parking turnout at the trailhead off White Haven Road was still frozen. We suited up and hit the trail. We started out by following the purple trail south which took us through a hardwood forest scattered with mountain laurel and moss covered boulder formations. The beech trees still holding onto their autumn leaves glistened with a warm orange hue. We passed by a ravine with a waterfall now frozen into a striking 10 foot flow of ice. Sunlight danced on the frosty boughs of hemlock that still hung heavy with snow. As we meandered along the winding trail we began to descend closer to Shades Creek. We then connected to the gray trail as we reached the swinging bridge and crossed over the rapids. The winter landscape looked so amazing as we followed along the snow covered banks. We made our way in and out of rhododendron tunnels stopping every few feet to admire the fast flowing cascades. Sparkles of snow glistened in the sunlight as they fell from the trees like fairy dust. Before we knew it it was already getting to be late afternoon. As much as we wanted to stay, we knew we should start heading back. When we reconnected with the purple trail, we decided to make a quick side trip and follow it south. It crossed over Bear Creek on a primitive bridge and from here we went off trail to continue a little further along its edge. It was a beautiful section of trail, but we didn’t go too far since it was too late in the day to explore. We turned around making note to save that adventure for another time. We ascended steeply back up the hill, back into the hardwood forest and past the frozen waterfall. By this time, the sun had shifted lower on the horizon illuminating the landscape with its radiant afternoon light. When we arrived back at the trailhead, the frozen parking lot was a swimming pool of melted ice. We loaded up the car and headed home after another amazing winter’s day.
We had a perfect day of winter hiking around Bear Creek Preserve. This time we accessed the trail from White Haven Road on the west side of the preserve. It was a chilly morning (somewhere in the low 20s), but we warmed up as soon as we got moving. The lighting today was lovely. My husband had just gotten a GoPro camera, and he wanted to test it out. I couldn’t think of a better place to be on this fine winter morning. We started the hike following the purple trail which met up with the red trail and then the gray trail. This would take us right to swinging bridge and the beautiful waterfalls and cascades of Shades Creek. Before we arrived at the swinging bridge, we hiked along a path at the top of a beautiful frozen 10 foot waterfall I stopped here for a moment to enjoy the scenery before continuing along the trail. We spent most of the day experimenting with cameras and video, but we ended up hiking about 6 miles before returning home. Some day when we aren’t on a camera test mission, I’d like to hike the whole purple trail loop. It was such an amazing day. Both of us got a lot of great pictures and video.
Click on Read More Below for More Photos from this Hike.
Beautiful creekside hiking at Bear Creek Preserve this weekend! This has been my favorite hike in NEPA thus far. We started from the trailhead at Rabbit Run Lane on the red trail and connected to the gray tail heading south along Shades Creek. This section of trail was just beautiful with many cascades flowing into deep, clear pools, waterfalls and undulating trail through rhododendron jungles, in and out of hemlock forest and mossy wetland. Before reconnecting to the red trail and heading back north, we crossed over Shades Creek on a really cool suspension bridge. The terrain for most of this hike was rocky and slippery with wet leaves, but I'm getting used to my feet taking a beating on these east coast trails and learning to slow down a bit and take my time. East coast hiking is very different from out west. There may not be much elevation to gain, but I’m starting to find some locations that feel a little more remote where we can track some decent mileage. We followed the red trail back to the trailhead and closed the loop at about 7 miles RT. Absolutely beautiful place to explore.
Today we spent a few hours exploring Bear Creek Preserve in the Lehigh River Watershed. The preserve is part of a network of protected lands and the hiking trails here are pristinely beautiful. There are about nine miles of rolling trails leading to waterfalls, crystal clear cascades, rocky ledges and through hemlock, pine and rhododendron. It was about 30 degrees with a wind chill today, and we had some snow flurries. The ground had just the slightest dusting of snow. Winter is finally setting in. There are three streams running through the preserve: Shades Creek, Bear Creek and Stony Run. We hiked the yellow and green trails which took us to an overlook and then stream side along Shades Creek to the top of a flowing cascade. We didn’t have time to hike much more today, but I am looking forward to coming back here and exploring more of the preserve
