The town of Sizerville may be gone and forgotten and the history of the CCC camps seldom told… but the wind whispers the secrets that the hemlocks and the pines still hold. One of these is the natural beauty of this State park. So many reasons to come and spend a day or two here! A playground to spark the imagination of any child! A spring fed swimming pool to cool you off on the hottest day! A nature center to explore and trails galore! 6 pavilions and even a horseshoe pit! The interesting thing I found here was a very large collection of skulls of all the different wildlife even an elk skull! The perfect park to sit around the campfire at night and share a few ghost stories! There is plenty to enjoy here anytime of year and the streams have both native and stocked trout. The park is well maintained and everything was super clean!
What I like the best about exploring different State Parks is the hunt to find the pearl… that one thing that makes each park stand out from all the other parks I have visited. This pearl hunt is a completely individualistic process. For example the beautiful stream (Honey Creek) running through it might be the pearl for a fisherman ( It has native and stocked trout). Or the playground might be the pearl for a mom or dad. For me, the pearl is a super clean, eco-shower. Yep that’s right, the shower! Timed water, lights (solar?)etc. are spot on for me! A shower? That doesn’t seem very exciting, you might say…let me explain; My De-stress thing to do after a hard week at work is to go and have Dinner at the park. I first take a nice warm shower and let all the stress of the day go down that drain. Then I go find a deserted section and a picnic table and just sit down. Immediately I can feel every bit is stress or anxiety dissipate. My ears are filled with the sounds of crickets, birds and other insects. This is my meditation music. There are three pavilions and tables everywhere in the park. In this atmosphere, I chew slower, taste more and I swear, food tastes better out of doors…. better than any restaurant… try it sometime! Other favorite things about Reeds Gap - pet friendly … it is tents only, but I like that about it too… I like the rustic setting. There are 3 beautiful pavilions and tons of parking! I also like their waste management as they offer recycling for the campers. There is a trail head near the entrance of the park for hikers and a geocache showed up close to the trail on a road on my geocache tracker if you are into that. I have just shared what makes Reeds Gap special for me, but you will have to come explore this gem for yourself and find your own pearl and what makes this state park one of Pennsylvania’s treasures.
Adults and Children alike will love the park office / Wildlife Center at Sinnemahoning State Park. Learn about this buildings green construction (LEED)geo thermal heat, rain water harvesting system, recycled materials and more! Step inside to view elk bear birds and other wildlife! Learn about the building of the dam and the early days of the CCC camps. If you can get the children out of the office or bring yourself to leave … make a souvenir penny on your way out before walking across the parking lot and around the corner to visit the arch tree. This park is a long narrow park with a road running through it that is perfect for a bike ride or stroll. On one end is a wildlife viewing area, the other end offers great fishing and a boat launch. Between is a picnic day use area and a 35 site campground with a dump station, a modern restroom with flush toilets and showers. The restrooms and some campsites are ADA accessible. Electric hookups are available and each pet friendly camp site has its own picnic table, lantern hold and fire ring. Elk, eagles deer and many other varieties of wild life can be seen here on a regular basis! There is much to explore here during any season and even on a rainy day the kids will have the opportunity to learn about the world around them! 5 stars Sinnemahoning! What a treasure in the PA Wilds!
Many consider Patterson State Park an over flow Park for when the famous “Dark Skies” Cherry Springs State Park or the large Lyman Run State Park with its lake for swimming, boating and fishing gets full. Indeed, many who couldn’t get a reservation at either of these larger state parks have ended up at this first come, first serve rustic campground. This is how I discovered the often overlooked beauty of this little park. First the location of this park makes it easy to take advantage of the amenities of the two nearby parks and it’s only a hop skip and a jump from mini golf and a newly installed zip line in Sweden Valley, Pa. If Hiking is your thing, the STS trail system runs right through it. On one side of the road (they must allow horse back riding on that section of the trail as we saw trailers of horses pull in to trail ride). There are two pavilions, one with a fire place . There is one rustic toilet. This is rustic camping, no electric, a pump for water but it is also pet friendly and has cell service. One of the best features and why we will definitely be back is that at any given time you may have the whole park to yourself. If you are camping with children this can be a plus! They will have plenty of room to play, and it is a poke-stop. It has a take it with you waste management plan that really helped us all think differently about packaging and some of the choices we make. I give this little park 5 yes 5 gold stars. But don’t tell anybody… let’s keep this little gem a secret between us!