Total Distance: 1.77 Miles
Avg Speed: 1.75 MPH
Avg Moving Speed: 2 MPH
Moving Time: 53:05
Total Time: 1:00:33
Conditions: Mostly Sunny, 85 degrees
Difficulty: Easy
You might take note that I was in no hurry when I arrived at Lake Towhee. I had blisters on my feet from my hike at Tyler State Park on Saturday and had just gotten done hiking four miles at Haycock Mountain no more than 30 minutes before my arrival at Lake Towhee Park. It was a good day of hiking and being outside!
Approximate location:
799 Old Bethlehem Road
Quakertown, PA 18951
GPS: 40.4762173,-75.2718853
The listed trails on ExplorePATrails for Lake Towhee show more than what I found. There's supposed to be a trail that leads to the other side of the lake on the southern end but I was unable to find it. There is a trail that leads below the dam but it could be overgrown since it seemed to come to an abrupt end. Giving this park is so quiet, I'm willing to bet it hasn't been used in a long time. Perhaps this would be a place to return to in the spring where there's not as many weeds and foliage and the trail would be more visible.
The first thing you'll notice about this park is that it is relatively small and not very busy at all. It can almost be considered a hidden treasure of sorts since Nockamixon State Park is just around the corner and seems to attract quite a bit more attention than Lake Towhee. The same is also noted on the Scenic Bucks County website. To put this in perspective, on such a nice day, I was one of about three cars in the parking lot and I believe one family was also camping and that was about it.
When I first looked at the lake, I wasn't sure of the actual size of the lake itself. A good portion of it is covered by water plants which actually looks pretty cool. It made for some good pictures. As far as the hiking part goes, there's not a lot there and if you walk at anything more than a leisure pace, you can probably cover the entire place within about 45 minutes or less. I took my time and was done within an hour.
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| View from parking lot looking to lake and boat launch area |
At the boat launch, if you look into the woods to the left, you'll see what used to be a bird watch but when you get closer, it looks like it hasn't been taken care of in some time.
There was supposed to be a trail somewhere below the dam but I was unable to find it.
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| Dam at southern end of Lake Towhee |
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| Stream just down from the dam |
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| Dirt road leading to Apple Road |
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| One of the two pavilions I saw at the lake |
As nice as it is there, what I find to be unfortunate about this park is that it doesn't seem to be very well taken care of. Throughout the park, there were trash cans that were overfull with trash on the ground around them. I already mentioned the bird watch and the condition it was in, and at the end of an inlet, there was a picnic table in about 3-4 inches of water at the water's edge. Otherwise, this is a nice park to go to for a quiet stroll or picnic giving there weren't many people there.
I also discovered there's a campsite inside the park as well. Since it's not too far from Nockamixon State Park and Haycock Mountain, it would make a nice campsite to spend a few nights if you want to venture off to these other places. According to the Bucks County website, the camping fee for Bucks County residents is $20 a night and $30 for non-residents. This applies to all of Bucks County parks that have campsites.
Until next time, happy hiking and exploring!
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