Day Trip - Shikellamy State Park & Buffalo Valley Rail Trail

 June 3, 2023

On June 3rd we rose early to a sunny day, loaded up our bikes and headed off for Sunbury, Pennsylvania to attend an Outdoor Expo sponsored by the Susquehanna Greenway Partnership. 

Shikellamy State Park Marina

Shikellamy State Park is in Union and Northumberland counties. The park is divided into two parts: the 54-acre Shikellamy Marina sits on the top of Packers Island at the juncture of the West and North Branches of the Susquehanna River. This section of the park offers the marina, a boat launch, picnicking, and hiking/biking trails. 

It was the location of the expo, where we spent a couple of hours strolling among the many stands picking up information for future adventures. We have been wanting to kayak more extensively on the Susquehanna, having only kayaked on it once during the pandemic when we explored the area just below the Conewago Falls at Falmouth in Lancaster County. We found a ton of information for all three of our favs at the expo: hiking, biking and especially kayaking, so we were well pleased with our decision to attend the event.

After we'd had our fill of the expo, we took a stroll along the waterfront and enjoyed the views of the Susquehanna before heading on to our next destination.

Lake Augusta on the Susquehanna River The trail along the North Branch of the Susquehanna River

Looking toward the North Branch of the Susquehann River from the Marina Railroad trestle over the North Branch of the Susquehanna River

Ducklings swimming at the Marina

Buffalo Valley Rail Trail

We next drove about 10 miles to an access point for the Buffalo Valley Rail Trail, about midway between its endpoints in the towns of Lewisburg and Mifflinburg. The trail runs about 9.5 miles between the two towns and is an easy ride on the gravel and asphalt path. Be aware there are several crossings, but the path is level and we found it to be any easy ride.

First we heading into Mifflinburg where we stopped at the trailside Rusty Rail Brewery for lunch. We had an excellent meal of a pub burger for Jeff, and a pulled pork, bacon and fresh pineapple flatbread for me. We were well satisfied with the meal and the service.

After enjoying our meal we headed back on the trail heading in the opposite direction toward Lewisburg. It was a short, pleasant ride, although there wasn't a whole lot of scenery other than farm fields and houses. We enjoyed it anyway. We'd definitely return, if only to go back to the brewery! We each give the trail a thumbs up, and the Rusty Rail two thumbs up!

View from the trail

View from the trail

Shikellamy State Park Overlook

We finished our day by stopping at the Overlook section of Shikellamy State Park before heading back across the Susquehanna at Sunbury. This section of the park is 166 acres, including a 360-foot cliff overlooking the juncture of the branches of the Susquehanna. There are some short hiking trails and a picnic area at the lookout, too. It was getting late in the day, so we just drove to the lookout for some photos before heading home. Shikellamy is a great little place to spend some time if you're in the Sunbury area. The views from the lookout were beautiful, and we enjoyed walking around the park at the Marina, but the highlight for us was the Outdoor Expo, which we gave two thumbs up.

View of the bridge into Sunbury

View of the Susquehanna Marina from the Overlook

* All Photos and videos are the property of the authors except where otherwise noted. *

Day Trip - Nockamixon State Park

 May 21, 2023

The weather for Sunday, May 21st was predicted to be fairly warm and sunny, giving us the first chance of the year to finally go out in our kayaks. So we loaded them up and headed for Nockamixon State Park near Quakertown, Pennsylvania.

Nockamixon State Park encompasses 5,289 acres of rolling hills in Bucks County. The Tohickon Creek, Three Mile Run and Haycock Run feed Lake Nockamixon which at 1,450 acres is a haven for wildlife, boaters and anglers.

Although there isn't a campground at the park, there is a cabin available for rent. Other activities include a swimming pool ($), picnicking, and hiking, biking and equestrian trails.

This would be our fourth trip to Nockamixon and our third time kayaking on the lake. Boats up to 20 hp are permitted on the lake, so we tend to focus our adventures on the southwest end of the lake around Three Mile Run and Tohickon Creek, although we have also kayaked the northeastern section of the lake at Haycock Run. The middle section of the lake is often busy with motor and sailboats, especially in the area around the Marina.

Sentinel Rock
October 2021

On past trips, we also hiked the trail around the spillway and over to Sentinel Rock. 

On this day, we focused again on the area around Three Mile Run. It's much more peaceful there, with acres of water lilies to paddle through along with abundant wildlife. We were a little early for the water lilies on this visit, but we enjoyed seeing the birds, turtles and fish jumping as we paddled the lower end before heading up the channel toward the Tockickon Creek. There we watched some teenagers jumping off the cliffs into the water and swinging from a vine next to the rocks. Although there is no swimming in the lake, we always find kids jumping from the rocks here.

We took our time paddling around and enjoying the day on the water. It was a good choice for our first kayak trip of the year.

The first of many turtles	Heron
Three Mile Run empties into the lake on the other side of the bridge Kayaking on the lake Sailboats on the lake	Turtle Yellow irises Turtles, turtles everywhere!

Heron and turtles

* All Photos and videos are the property of the authors except where otherwise noted. *