Western PA State Parks Road Trip Day FIVE (Final Day)

My adventure leaves off on Day 5, at Cook Forest State Park. In the tent. And the temperatures dropped down to below 40 overnight. We did not sleep well to say the least! My bag is rated for lower temps than that, but Zorro was cold. He does not like to sleep under a blanket, so he kept shaking the blanket off. And then being cold. And then getting covered again. You get the idea. I finally got up at 5am and packed the tent up, and loaded the shivering dogs into the car. 

I was tired, hungry and cranky but I decided to check out Seneca Point. A mile or so drive down a gravel road, beautiful vista all to ourselves. The morning was chilly and beautiful and I felt gratitude. I could complain on social media about my cold and sleepless night. But my discomfort drove me to wake up early and visit a beautiful spot in the cool still morning. And I had it all to myself. 

From there it was the drive West down I-80, with random State Park stops peppered in. The first order of business was breakfast, and it was not long until the first stop, Simon B Elliott State Park. This was a small day-use picnic area type park and it was a quick visit.

Very nearby was Parker Dam State Park and this was a much bigger park with lake and campground. I took a short walk with Zorro down the boardwalk to check out the water and let him have a potty break and then back on the road.

From there it was nearly an hour's super scenic drive to our next destination, Black Moshannon State Park. Another lake park. I took some time to do a short hike to a geocache so that the dogs could have some time out of their crates and enjoy some walking.

Back on the road for about half an hour until the next stop, Bald Eagle State Park. This was one of the parks on my travels back home that I felt a little sad that I did not have more time to properly visit. Gorgeous lake park, geocaches and some trails I would have liked to explore It would certainly be a fun place to return to for a camping trip!

In 2013 I visited Sand Bridge State Park and McCalls Dam State Park. Close to those parks was Ravensburg State Park, but juuuust a little further than I wanted to drive on that day trip. I was sure to stop there on my way home this time. This park was very small, day-use area type vibe, but it was the trail head for what looked like some cool hikes.

And the final stop was Milton State Park and it was so very much like a local community park, it was surprising to me that it was a state park! 

And that was it! From there it was the long 3 hour drive home on familiar roads, back in my "territory" of adventuring. This was my longest road trip yet and I made memories I will never forget on the road. 26 state parks total with my grand total being 101/121 parks visited. Getting real close!

Western PA State Parks Road Trip : Day Two

Our story picks up at Raccoon Creek State Park, where of course it rained more overnight. I was up around 6am and balled the soaking wet tent up and threw it in the car. My hope was to dry it out at our next stop that evening. I was also starving because I could not find anywhere to stop for dinner the night before, but I wanted to find two geocaches near the ranger station and check out a hiking trail before I left.

We explored and visited the site of the Frankfort Mineral Springs. In the 1800s this was a health spa and people would come here to drink the water from the mineral spring for kidney health and stay at the hotel (which is now in ruins.) It was not a long trail but there was nobody else around and it was a beautiful spot.

Ruins of the Hotel

After that, I started northward towards the next stop, McConnell's Mill State Park. It was about an hour and it was pouring. I checked the weather and it looked like more of the same. Low chance of rain but it was 100% pouring. I was feeling a little bummed. Rainy day of hiking and park visiting, and how would I ever get my tent dried out?

The first stop at McConnell's Mill was at a scenic vista named Cleland Rock, randomly down a dirt driveway in the middle of a corn field. It was pretty, and there was a sasquatch geocache hidden there.

Cleland Rock Vista

A Sasquatch!

After that I headed to the main trail, and the hike I was most excited about for Saturday. And it stopped raining! Slippery Rock Creek Gorge, beautiful scenery and rocky trail next to a rushing creek. It did not disappoint! I had some trouble finding parking. There is limited parking near the Mill and no signage (that I saw.) directing to an overflow parking lot. I eventually figured it out and spent a good 2+ hours enjoying the gorge. I could have spent longer! The whole gorge trail is 6 miles one way.

McConnells Mill

We moved on to our next stop Moraine State Park. We did not stay too long here. It was a gorgeous enormous lake. I found a boat access area, took the dogs for a quick hike around and let Perri get a drink in the water and we moved on.

Moraine State Park

Jennings Environmental Education Center was next. Another quick stop, checked out the nature trail and took a few photos and we moved on.

Maurice K Goddard State Park was next, another lake park. We took a quick walk, found a geocache and moved along.

It was challenging for me, on this trip, to stop at some parks and not spend a lot of time there or not explore all that I could. It simply wasn't possible and I had to remind myself that my criteria is to "visit" each park.

Last stop of the day was our camp, Pymatuning State Park. Enormous reservoir lake and I even got a campsite right by the water. The rain had stopped, the sun was out and it was a beautiful day. I made great time with travelling and even picked up an air pump for the heckin' air mattress. I had ice cream for dinner.

\After drying out the tent and setting up my campsite, the dogs and I went to visit the "Spillway". The spillway was a really fascinating site and I enjoyed it, but it was very crowded with people of all ages with bags of bread who threw slide after piece after slice of bread into the spillway. It was hard to enjoy it. We crossed the Ohio/PA state line to get there which was kinda fun for me.

We also did an evening hike on a land bridge/jetty where many people were fishing. The sun was setting, the weather was perfect, people wanted to pet my dogs and talk, the peepers were singing. It was a really special moment and I enjoyed it so much. It made up for the hysterical crowds at the spillway.

Back to camp for some reading time and a shower and an excellent night sleep on the inflated air mattress! It did rain a little bit and made the outside of the tent wet but at least the inside was nice and dry.