Lake Nockamixon

*Warning:  this post contains a lot of family photos

Lake Nockamixon might as well be a world away from the rest of Bucks County - or at least as far away as the Poconos.  And come to think of it, in some ways it's kind of like the beach.   The expansive lake is buffered from civilization by dense woods.  There's hiking as well as a bike/hike trail system.  Rock climbers can scale/boulder up Haycock Mountain or strike out to other locales.  There are stables all over upper Bucks and horse trails thread the forest.  Boating and fishing are top notch as well as sailing - and not just the little sunfish sailboats.  There's a marina with yachts... oh yeah, and an occasional seagull.   The park even has a beautiful 1/2 acre pool with water slides, a snack bar and a shallow end with fountains.  It's close to some hardcore tourist attractions like the Crayola Factory in Easton and the New Hope-Ivyland stream engine train. So why take a vacation to the beach or the Poconos with all the bounty of an outdoors vacation just minutes from home?  That's a question Corinne and I asked ourselves a few years back.  One problem is that there is no place to pitch a tent or roll in a camper in the park.  The solution?  Cabins!  The park has 10 modern cabins on the south side of the lake.  They are the same cabins you'd find in any state park in Pennsylvania.  Renting a cabin for a week comes to just under $400.  When we discovered the cabin option our family vacation tradition was solidified.

This year my sister and her family rented the cabin next to ours so we had taken over a good percentage of the available space in the cabin area.  The cabins are a short walk to the lake which was great for the kids.  There is also a playground in the cabin area so there is always a place to go that can help alleviate "cabin" fever.  Another huge bonus is that we are close enough to home that friends and family can come to visit which can be a real win-win.  Even a place only an hour or two away might be just far enough to eliminate this option.  

Unlike other Review posts, this post will be different in that I'll just be highlighting some of the things we did without trying to give you a critical angle.  This was our vacation and we had a great time.  I wouldn't have change a thing.     

view of the cabin entrance

trail to the lake

Corinne, Matt, Frank and Max at the lake

Annette, BJ, Jill and Dominic

Grandpop and Max at the Lake

Grandmom, Frank and Max

Max in the hammock

Corinne and Frank at the marina

Max at the Marina

Corinne and Frank on the dock

Max at the pool

Annette at the pool

Frank at the pool

Jill and Dominic at the marina

Max in motion on the New Hope-Ivyland Express

Corinne, Max, Frank and Matt after the train ride

Hope this gives you a glimpse of our vacation.  Low cost, low stress, local and lots of fun.  Check out the cabins when you get a chance.  Happy trails.  

Review: Nockamixon State Park, Old Bethlehem Road

Outdoor Appeal: 8
Setting: Lake front visit, shallow gravel beach, view of pilings of an old dock and the Lake House Inn. Why not a 10 for Outdoor Appeal? Well despite the lake setting, it does have an abandoned feel to it. The details are below.

Explorable Op's: A few. There are hiking trails that are accessible from the parking area but this post is just about the lake access. It is a quick stop for a picnic or just to mess around near the water.

Difficulty: Easy. There are two place to access Lake Nockamixon from the parking area. The closest is a steep drop at the lakeside parking spots, but it is only a few feet down. The other way to get to the lake is simply by walking down the barricaded section of Old Bethlehem Road. About one football field from the barricade the road tapers into the lake.

Facilities: Primitive. Nothing but a garbage can.

Review: Old Bethlehem Road appears on both sides of the lake and it seems that the road actually did span the valley before Lake Nockamixon was created. Apparently at some later time there was a dock at the north side of Old Bethlehem Road because the pilings are still sticking out of the water like a miniature scene from an old seaport. This was a quick trip for us. We were on our way to grandmom's house and we just needed a little time out of the car to expend some energy and cool off. In many ways this was a perfect little trip. Walking the abandoned section of Old Bethlehem Road is easy for small kids, both down to the lake and back. You don't have to worry about traffic, meandering or even walking too far. It's only a football field in length so you can easily see the lake on the way down and the parking lot on the way back. The visual goal is good motivation for little kids. The lake is very shallow at both access points with knuckle size stones blanketing the wading area. It's a very manageable place for kids to explore and relatively worry free for parents. Plus the view of the lake is beautiful.

Recommendations: Bathing suits and a change of clothes. Even if you're not planning on getting wet, it's pretty tempting to dip your toes in the water. If you're looking to make the trip more worth your while, there are hiking trails that head out from the parking area. We ventured down the Quarry Trail through a few turns and then headed back. But the Quarry Trail looks to be a very short loop on the map - 3/4 of a mile at most. From our short trek we found out that it skirts the lake for 100 yards or so and is very manageable for kids. Hope you enjoy. Happy trails.

Day-Tripper, Nockamixon Waterfall Tour

One of our favorite day trips is a drive up route 611 to check out the waterfalls. There are 3 within a few miles of one another: High Creek Falls in Ringing Rocks Park, the falls on Rapp Creek near the state game land #56 and the falls at the spill-way of Lake Nockamixon. This a half day trip. Below we have the order of the tour we like to take but you may want to mix it up depending on which way you are travelling into the area. Of course, the best time to see each of the falls is after recent rainfall. We hope you like the tour.

High Creek Falls: The falls are located within Ringing Rocks Park. The trail back to the gorge is about 1/2 mile long. The slope down to the falls can be slippery and the area surrounding the falls is filled with boulders so extreme care needs to be taken when you are exploring the gorge. The drop is about 30 feet high and the water truly thunders off the drop into the valley below when at full force. There are picnic tables and a porto-potty at the parking area. The main attraction of the park is a boulder field of rocks that do indeed ring when you hit them with something hard. It would be easy to spend most of the Nockamixon Waterfall Tour at this park alone. See the Ringing Rocks Park post for a full review of the site.


Rapp Creek Falls: This waterfall is visible from Beaver Run Road http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=rapp%20creek&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl You can't get to the falls to explore because they lie on private property, but there is a good view from the road for a quick stop and a photo. This photo is from the Scenic Bucks County website. http://scenicbuckscounty.com/Tinicum/RappCreek.html

Nockamixon Dam Spillway: The spill-way for the Lake Nockamixon Dam can be seen from State Park Road. There is a pull off on the dam side of the road. Be careful getting in and out of your car here. Cars go whizzing by at a good clip. The view of the spill way is most of what you are able to explore here. The park service has fenced off the entire area around the dam and has made it very clear that they don't want anyone getting too close to the dam and the spill-way. It is still worth driving by to check out. It is an impressive sight and if you're a little more adventurous you can follow the fence around to the left of the dam to get a closer look. You'll need to cross over a creek and head up a steep slope to get a view from above the falls. If you continue along the fence you will come to a parking area that is accessible from Mink Road and Interior Park Road. This area is located in the top-center of the photo above where the trees are. It provides a nice view of the lake and the dam breast. It is slightly more than a 1/4 mile hike from the parking pull off on State Park Road.

As we mentioned before, we like to do the tour in this order with the High Falls Creek Waterfall first so that we a fresh for the trek. If you are travelling with small children this is especially important because the afternoon tends to approach nap time and small hikers will get fatigued quickly. We hope you enjoy to the tour as much as we do. If there are more falls in this immediate area please let us know.

@home.outdoors

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