Review: Peace Valley Park, Indian Path trail

Outdoor Appeal: 10

Image via Wikipedia

Setting: Lake Galena, nature center, hiking trails, hike/bike path, Neshaminy Creek

Explorable Op's: A ton. Outside of the organized sports realm, Lake Galena and Peace Valley Park together have most outdoor activities that someone in the Delaware Valley would care to take on with kids. Hiking, biking, paddling, sailing, birding, picnic areas, playgrounds. With the exception of camping, the park has as much to offer as most state parks.

Facilities: Civilized. The nature center has restrooms, changing tables for infants, a learning center, taxidermed wild animals, gift shop, views of the lake as well as coffee, tea and hot chocolate for a nominal donation.

Review: There are lots of different trails in the park to explore. So when looking at the trail map it may seem a bit daunting to try to figure out what might be a managable hike for you and them. Fear not! The trail system forms a lot of small loops that criss cross over one another so there is almost always a "short cut" back to the car if you need to end the hike quickly. The day we set out I wanted to make sure that we had a pretty short trail with a few neat destinations along the way. I've found that it is easier to keep the 2 year old walking when there is a surprise waiting around the bend - and I do try to hype the surprise and ask him what he thinks it might be to spur him on when the trail gets "tough." The one this particular day I chose to hike Indian Path to Pond Path, a short zigzag on Woods Edge and finish up the loop on Pine Path. I'm guessing it might be a half mile total. I chose this loop because it has three surprises along the way. On Indian Path there is a Indian shelter built out of saplings and tree bark for the siding. From the inside you can see how it was made - pretty neat! We spent about 20 minutes checking it out which seems like a long time to be contained in a small space but it was a real wonderland for both Max and Frank. From the shelter we headed to Pond Path and made our way towards Woods Pond. It happened to be very muddy the day we went so Max couldn't decide if he was all that excited about how sloppy the trail was. The pond wound up being a bit of a problem in that Frank, the one year old, wanted to go in and Max wanted to get take off his sandals to shake off the mud. So we didn't stay very long because I didn't really want to comply with either of their wishes. We started our walk back and came to a small stream that crossed over Pond Path. It was flowing nicely because of all the rain we had just had. It turned out to solve the broken dreams we left behind at Woods Pond. Max could take his sandals off and wash the mud off and Frank could easily walk in the water. The stream had a sandy bottom and was only a few inches deep. We spent another 20 minutes walking back and forth over the stream, gathering rocks, throwing rocks back in, setting leaves afloat and watching them get swept away by the currents. Neither of the boys wanted to leave, but time had marched on towards lunch and curiousity was taking us a little too far up the stream. So we packed ourselves up, took the zigzag on Woods Edge and headed back to the parking area by way of Pine Path.

Recommendations: Truth be told, it's not easy to hike with small children. They meander, tire quickly, want to be carried, have to go to the potty, trip, fall and all kinds of other dilemmas pop up along the way. But I think even a two year old gets a real sense of accomplishment when they see that they have made it back to the car - snacks and drinks awaiting. And time spent in the woods is never wasted in my opinion. So when hiking with kids it's always best to be prepared to do very little hiking. If it's possible, have a few neat stops along the way. And "neat" is a perception you will need to project to the kids. Give them time to exlpore, be patient when they don't want to walk further, flexible and above all else, make it a fun adventure. The woods is a great place to let kids' curiosity run wild - well, not too wild. There's poison ivy out there! But giving them some freedom will make it fun for everyone. And in the end it doesn't really matter what you do outdoors. Just getting out can be enough. Happy trails.