Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Nockamixon State Park - Mountain Bike Trails

Date of Hike: Sunday, June 22, 2014
Total Distance: 8.52 Miles*
Avg speed: 2.24MPH*
Avg moving speed: 2.37MPH*
Moving Time: 3:36:07
Total Time: 3:47:47
Conditions: Mostly Sunny, 80 degrees
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate 

*I'm having some doubts about these statistics. I know I was moving at a decent pace for most of this hike and while I stopped a number of times to allow mountain bikers to pass and take pictures, I don't really think this would have had that much of an impact on my average and moving speeds. Another thing that makes me doubt these numbers is that there were quite a few tightly packed "S" turns or switchbacks on the trails, especially in the southern section. The switchbacks were not recorded properly by my GPS app and would have increased the distance I hiked as well as my moving speeds. By how much, I don't know but I don't think I was walking that slow. For perspective, I hiked Mount Misery in Valley Forge a few weeks ago which the terrain is far more difficult than these trails and my average moving speed was the same at 2.37MPH. 

It was another beautiful day to go hiking as it has been for most of the spring/summer. My starting point was at the Tower Road parking lot in the northeastern section of the park. Approximate address is: 

Ottsville, PA 18942
 
 
As of today, they're not yet named on the map from the DCNR's website so here are the trail names from north to south:
  • Hammer Trail
  • Cold Spot
  • Haycock Run
  • Eastern Woods
  • Jay Walk
  • South Park
 
For more information on the trails and the names, you can find a trail map on the Lake Nockamixon Bike Trails website (also called Ride Nox). If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you can download a copy of the map in PDF format or you can get it by clicking here
 
Once you arrive at the parking lot, the first thing you'll see at the trail head are wooden benches and chairs made from logs, pretty cool if you ask me. 
 



Benches and chairs made from logs at the Tower Road trail head
 
After last week's hike at the Church and Mink Trails and the poor condition they were in (for hiking), I didn't have much of an expectation for these trails and was anticipating another messy hike. Safe to say my expectations, or lack thereof, were laid to rest in a hurry. With the exception of a few places (very few at that), the trails in this part of the park are very well maintained and in excellent condition. I've been hiking just about every weekend since the snow melted earlier this year and these trails were by far the best I've been on condition-wise. Unlike the Church and Mink Trails, you can get away with wearing shorts in this section of the park without having to worry about walking through trails that are overgrown with weeds and thorn bushes. Make sure to bring your insect repellent, the black flies, gnats, whatever they're called, are a nuisance. It didn't help that my homemade bug repellent didn't work either.
 
A word of advice, keep in mind that these trails are designed for mountain bikers and from what I've read and experienced during my hike, this is a popular spot to go. There were quite a few mountain bikers on the trails and as they approached, I gave them right-of-way so they could keep moving. Most of them were friendly, said their hello's and thanked me as they passed.
 
Please also note that the trails in this area should not be used during wet weather or when they're soft and muddy. When you get to the trail head at Tower Road, you'll see a sign advising you that it's closed during wet weather. While there's no one there to stop you from going, in order to preserve the trails, prevent ruts and erosion, and keep them in the condition they're in, please abide by this and keep off the trails when they're wet. For information on trail conditions, please see the Ridenox Facebook page.  
 
As far as the hike itself went, it was awesome. This part of the park is beautiful, the woods are pretty thick in this area and with the trails being as well kept as they are, it was a lot of fun to hike and enjoy. During my hike, I noted that I was no more than 40-50 feet away from the lake at certain places and while I could hear the waves, I could hardly see the water due to how thick the growth was.  
 
The terrain throughout the hike is mostly level. It has a few hills but nothing real strenuous and there are a lot of small "mole hills" and lots of curves and swerves (keep in mind, these trails are designed for mountain bikers). The changes go from nice tightly packed ground to areas where you can tell it gets wet and has logs covering them and also some rocky stretches as well. 
 
This is a good place to hike in the summer as you are mostly covered by shade (probably 90-95% of the time) so there will be some relief from the sun and heat throughout the hike. 
 
Cold Spot trail close to the Tower Road trail head

First stream crossing on the Cold Spot Trail


Stream just off the trail in the Cold Spot/Haycock Run area

View of Lake Nockamixon from Haycock Run/Eastern Woods

Section of Eastern Woods

View of Lake Nockamixon from the Eastern Woods/Jay Walk sections

Trail in Jay Walk section

View of Lake Nockamixon from Jay Walk section

As you get to the clearing in the Jay Walk section where the dam and fire road (Foellner Lane) are, look to your left towards the edge of the woods on the opposite side on the road and you'll see a small clearing with a Bicentennial Committee monument stone. The grass in the area is tall and overgrown but you can still walk up to it to shoot a picture. 
 
Bicentennial Committee monument at the dam entrance in the Jay Walk section

At this point, you're at the fence by the Tohickon Creek emergency spillway but there's no view of the overflow from here so there isn't much to see. As I was heading down the trail (Jay Walk leading into the South Park section), I was hoping to hike alongside the creek but the trail is about 100 feet above with a steep bank leading down to it. There are a few side trails leading down to the creek but I didn't take them. There is one spot with a rock ledge hanging over the bank where you can look over down to the creek. It's hard to tell but you can see the Tohickon in the background between the trees. 

Rock ledge looking over the Tohickon (Jay Walk/South Park sections)

Rocks protruding from the bank by overlook at the Tohickon (Jay Walk/South Park sections)
 
As you get to the South Park section of the trail and approach South Park Road, the view of the Tohickon Creek from a clearing just under the bridge is very nice. You can get a good look at the creek from this spot. Be careful, the drop is a good 30 or more feet down. I didn't get close enough to the edge to see what was below and I didn't care to find out, I'm not fond of heights!



View of the Tohickon Creek and the South Park Road bridge

As you approach South Park Road, there is a trail head here and plenty of parking alongside the road if you'd like to start your hike/mountain bike ride here instead of the Tower Road parking lot. 

South Park Road trail head

Here's a rocky section of the South Park trail leading up to...

Section of South Park trail

The Gnome Home!! In the middle of seemingly nowhere, gnome statues are placed around a tree



I couldn't help it, I had to look behind the door...made me laugh out loud!

Say hello to my little friend!






After the Gnome Home, I didn't take many pictures for a distance. 

Section of Eastern Woods

37 m To P...does this mean 37 miles to Philadelphia? Eastern Woods area

Ride Nox, I believe this was on the Haycock Run section

View of Lake Nockamixon from the Cold Spot/Hammer trail sections

Stream bed between the Cold Spot and Hammer trails


There are a few different trail heads on Mountain View Drive (Route 563) approximately in this area here



Trail head entrances on Mountain View Drive (Route 563)


Sections of the Hammer Trail

Along the Hammer Trail, there are a few wood carvings. 


Wood carvings on Hammer Trail

Fire road leading back to the Tower Road parking lot

This may be one of my last trips out to Nockamixon State Park for a while since I've covered most of the trails although I'll definitely be returning to this area since it's so nice and well kept. As an added bonus, it's relatively close to home so it's well worth the drive to get to this set of trails. I was quite impressed! 

Happy exploring and happy hiking! 

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Nockamixon State Park - Church and Mink Trails

Date of Hike: Sunday, June 15, 2014
Total Distance: 8.28 Miles
Moving Time: 3:09:51
Total Time: 3:29:47
Average Speed: 2.37MPH
Average Moving Speed: 2.62MPH
Conditions: Sunny, 79 degrees
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate

Since April, I've been hiking different sections of Nockamixon State Park, this past Sunday being my fourth trip out there and a beautiful day to do so. My eventual objective is to cover the entire lake wherever there are trails I can walk on.

I usually take a different route to get to Nockamixon since I previously hiked the western or southern parts of the lake. This time I approached the lake from the north (Route 611) on South Park Road and I was glad I did. What I didn’t know (I knew it was there but wasn’t aware of the magnitude) was the size and how beautiful the waterfall is at the emergency spillway. As I drove past, I saw it out of the corner of my eye…it’s hard to miss anyway but when I saw it, I pulled over to take a look. If you end up in this area and want to check out this waterfall, there’s plenty of room to park on either side of South Park Road.





 
 
I snapped a few pictures then went on my way to my starting point.
 
Once I was done checking out the spillway, I moved on and parked at the Stover Mill Road parking lot to hike the Church and Mink Trails. This is the same location where there are cabin rentals if you’re interested in renting one. Approximate address is:

1976 Stover Mill Road
Perkasie, PA 18944
GPS: 40.446675, -75.234715 
 


Unfortunately, while I still enjoyed it, the trails in this area aren't the best for hiking, especially after wet weather. It seems to me that the water on these trails doesn't usually dry up as I noticed there were a lot of frogs living in the puddles. We had a lot of rain earlier in the week so it’s no surprise the trails were soggy but this was downright messy. If you plan to hike these trails, make sure you're prepared with the proper waterproof gear (gaiters, waterproof boots, etc.) or something to protect your footwear and several inches above the ankle, the mud is deep and impossible to avoid! It's a shame the cabins are in this area of Nockamixon instead of being closer to trails that are more easy to navigate, it would make a perfect weekend getaway for a hiker.

Perhaps it's coincidental timing but it seems that every time I've been hiking at Nockamixon, the ground is wet and soggy. In this area, it was worse than the others I had hiked. I didn't mind the challenge of trying to navigate around (and through) the deep mud and puddles but I don't think I'll be returning to this part of the park anytime soon. In my opinion, these trails are more geared towards horseback riding and after hiking them, I can understand why. I joke but I think this place should be renamed to Nockamudson, that or the trails should be renamed to properly warn people of the conditions. I think I now understand why these trails get little mention on the DCNR website for Nockamixon.

 
One of several areas throughout the Church and Mink Trails where the mud was deep and virtually unavoidable

There are also parts of the trail that are not well maintained and are becoming overgrown with weeds and thorn bushes. If you plan to hike these trails, it might be best to do so earlier in the season and/or make sure you wear long pants to help prevent getting cuts as well as having some of those eight legged vampires known as ticks hitching a ride. While I did notice some, there wasn't a lot of poison ivy but it's better to err on the side of caution.


Section of the Mink Trail overgrown with weeds and thorn bushes

Ok, I'm done complaining about the condition of the trails. While it was difficult navigation and slowed my progress, not all of it was bad. The terrain was relatively flat with the exception of a few hills on the Mink Trail, there was plenty of nature to be seen and of course there were the views of the lake and the waterfall. During my hike, I saw a cat hanging out on the trail, plenty of birds, a deer, a groundhog, and a bunch of great blue herons at the waterfall. As always, there are also chipmunks all over the place. I wasn't able to get a picture of the deer but it was no more than about 20-30 feet away from me and took off running before I could even think about raising my camera.
 
Since I stopped at the waterfall before my hike, I decided to also make it my objective to reach once I arrived at the Stover Mill Road parking lot. I was hot, sweaty and tired by the time I got there, but the payoff was the spectacular view and well worth it. Although it isn't shown on the map of Nockamixon State Park, the Mink Trail doesn't end at the Mink Road parking lot. It loops around to the front part of the spillway and pushes further downstream on the Tohickon Creek. How far, I don't know because once I reached the front of the spillway, I turned back.

 
 
Wood Thrush
 
 
 
Cliffs opposite of spillway
 
 
 
 
Great blue herons at the spillway
 
 
Section of the Mink Trail

My new hiking boots seem to be breaking in fine with only a few minor blisters. Perhaps it may be time to look into different insoles that are more stiff as I noticed when walking over rocks that I could feel them through the bottom of the boots. After my hike through this part of Nockamixon, I think they need a bath!


Wash me please!

In all, it was a good day. I'm still getting used to distance hiking and this is the first time I've been able to hike more than 6 miles without having to deal with as many blisters since my last pair of hiking boots were too small (see my post about fabulous footwear). I'm learning as I go along and have realized that I definitely need to build up some more endurance. As I mentioned, the terrain was mostly level ground and I was pretty tired at the end of the hike. I'll be returning to Nockamixon again to check out some more of the trails but I think it's safe to say I'll be avoiding the Church and Mink Trails in favor of ones that don't have such deep mud...I hope!

Happy adventures and happy hiking!