We felt like our two nights at Trough Creek State Park in south central Pennsylvania took us into the wilds. With just an electric hookup, we got a little closer to our camping roots, toting in bottled water for drinking and needing to be mindful of not overfilling our gray- and black-water tanks.
The park had a surprising number of interesting features that we were able to make a day of exploring. Just down the road was the Ice Mine, a curious space between hillside rocks where cold air flows through creating ice and a natural refrigerator effect.
Balanced Rock remains perched at the edge of a cliff above Great Trough Creek, seemingly defying gravity. Called an ”erosion remnant,” it has refused to fall, creating corny photo opportunities for some.
Our next two-night stop was in northern Pennsylvania at Leonard Harrison State Park, known as The Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. Another small park accessed by way of two-lane roads passing through tiny roadside communities, we once again felt somewhat isolated.
We spent the morning safely hiking the Turkey Path which, despite the numerous warnings of a steep, dangerous trail, was a little muddy but not too scary. We had hoped that we could get down to Pine Creek, but after descending a set of 70 stairs and almost there, we were met with a closed sign.
We’ve always felt a little spoiled by our Oregon state camping options, but we were throughly impressed with Pennsylvania state parks. We’ll soon be checking into a New York state park and are curious to see how it stacks up. I’ll let you know in a few days!
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