Black Moshannon PA State Park

Come join me in exploring one of Pennsylvania's most wondrous and fun state parks: Black Moshannon!  I have been to several PA state parks, including Ricketts Glenn and the PA "grand canyon" Colton Point park, French Creek, etc.  By far Black Moshannon is my most favorite.  I went there purely due to availability of campsites for a spur of the moment planned trip, and because the drive was not too far.  However, the bog it is famous for (although I had my doubts and misgivings) which I though would be smelly and disgusting, was instead teaming with life and a calm sanctuary of plant and animal life.  There was a blue berry festival occurring at the park store that weekend, and there were many small children playing at the parks playground and riding bikes around the campsite area.  It was an idyllic and delicious trip, and I cannot wait to return!

 

The park is located an hour from Penn State University, a four hour drive outside of Philadelphia.  It is a great place to go fmaily camping, having many of activities for families with kids (fishing, kayaking, swimming, playgrounds, hiking, biking, etc).  However, it is most famous for it's black colored bog area.  Below is a picture of the river where several people were fishing:

Here is a snapshot of the beach swimming area near some lily pads:

Although a bog might sound creepy, if you walk through the park and explore the bog, you will discover that a bog is a place full of wildlife and plant-life!  All this life thrives because of the water and food the bog area provides.

Here is a picture from the area where you can launch a kayak:

Here is the kayak area, peaceful in the morning:

If you continue to walk along the creek, you will enter the bog area.  The park has set up a boardwalk through some of the bog, so you can get inside of it, and explore deeper into the bog. This is a view from that boardwalk:

The tree trunks in the bog are from many years ago, decades, even centuries!  Why haven't they decomposed yet?  Because the bog's water is acidic, which kills off bacteria that would otherwise decompose the wood. Here is another picture of the awesome bog:

This area of the bog walkway is even wheel chair accessible.

As you walk along the bog path, there are a few signs describing the plants and animals you might see. Once such sign talks about the special bog moss.  Lo and behold, just below the sign is the exact moss which they described:

Some more pictures of the interesting plants in the bog:

Lily pads: 

Small Sized bog water plants:

Bog grass:

You can go for a hike around the whole bog which will be about 8 miles.  You may find some areas that are muddy and are a little bit difficult to transverse, but luckily the day we went there was very little mud!

You will find bridges over otherwise impassible areas:

You will be immersed in deep forests:

And finally, you will wander through a wild berry patch, with blueberries and black berries ripe for the picking.

The birds love to eat them as well, so leave some for the wildlife!

Here is the link to the park's website for more information:

Link to: Black Moshannon State Park