RView From Here: Promised Land State Park

July 23 to July 26, 2023

The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania’s public natural resources are the common property of all people, including generations yet to come.

– Pennsylvania Constitution, Section 27 Article 1

Our youngest grandchild (we have 3) joined us for a short camping trip to one of our favorite places, Promised Land State Park, in Pike County, Pennsylvania. Promised Land is in the Pocono Mountain region and is surrounded by the Delaware State Forest. The park has 7 campgrounds with amenities ranging from basic campsites without any hookups or showers to full hookup sites. We reserved an electric-only site at Pickerel Point Campground, which, in addition to having some full-hookup sites, has two shower houses with laundry facilities, restrooms and cottages. There is also a beach for swimming and launching kayaks and plenty of spots for fishing around the peninsula on which the campground is located.

Unfortunately, the weather wasn't very cooperative during our stay. We had a lot of rain showers and one 4-hour-long thunderstorm dampening our days, but we did manage to find time between showers/storms to do most of what we had planned. The temperature was cooler as a result of the frequent rain, but even though it was too cool for swimming, we were glad to escape the hot and humid environment we left behind us at home.

We went kayaking on the 422 acre Promised Land Lake. The lake has 9 miles of shoreline and plenty of boat launches. We launched our kayaks from the beach at the end of Pickerel Point Campground.

Two kayakers on a lake with trees in the background

Promised Land Lake

Water lily

Two kayakers on a lake with boats and kayaks stored on a tree-lined shore in the background

Promised Land Lake

Bee in the center of a water lily floating on a lake

See the bee?

Water lilies and other plants with purple flower in the water at the edge of the lake

Flowers along the lake edge

Promised Land Lake

We also rode our bicycles around the two campgrounds at our side of the lake and rode on the 6.5 mile paved road around the lake. There are also mountain biking trails but we aren't into that kind of biking.

Promised Land Lake supposedly has great fishing, but we weren't very successful in our attempts during our stay. We did have some fun trying to hand-hook some of the small fish that were taking our bait!

A girl bent over in the water at the lake edge trying to hand hook a fish

We also visited the Masker Museum, which tells the history of the park. While there we learned about a beginning archery training session that the park offered, which we enjoyed participating in.

Almost a bulls eye!

There are approximately 50 miles of hiking trails in Promised Land State Park and the surrounding Delaware State Forest. During our previous visit we hiked a loop around Egypt Meadow Lake and out to Bruce Lake. On this trip we hiked on Conservation Island, which has a large rock outcropping that's great for climbing.

A girl climbing up a high rock formation in the forest

Conservation Island

A girl climbing down a high rock formation in the forest

Conservation Island

View of water lilies on a lake surrounded by trees

View of an inlet of the lake seen from Conservation Island

We also hiked the Little Falls Trail, where the falls along it were not so little due to the heavy rain we had the previous day.

View of a small sunlit waterfall surrounded by the forest

View from Little Falls Trail

View of rushing water from a stream surrounded by the forest

View from Little Falls Trail

Raging stream pouring over rocks in a stream surrounded by forest

View from Little Falls Trail

Although we didn't have time to kayak on the Lower Lake on this trip, we can highly recommend doing so if you ever visit the park. We agree that although the Lower Lake is smaller at 173 acres, it's more scenic and has more wildlife along its shores. Unfortunately, the rain kept us from enjoying it on this trip, but we did stop at the Lower Lake Dam for a photo after our hike along the nearby Little Falls Trail.

Wooden bridge crossing a stream with a cement dam in the background

View from Little Falls Trail

Lower Lake Dam

Side view of a dam empyting water into a stream

Lower Lake Dam

Even though we weren't able to fit in another kayak float, more hiking, or catch any fish worth keeping, we still had a good time on our second trip to Promised Land State Park. We definitely count this state park as one of our favorites!