RView From Here: November 2023

October 28, 2023

As soon as I saw you, I knew an adventure was about to happen.

- Winnie the Pooh

Hugh Moore Park - Easton, Pennsylvania

On a beautiful fall day at the end of October we decided to go "adventuring" with our daughter and granddaughter to a park we had partially passed through on one of our bicycle rides back in early September. Hugh Moore Park is located between the Lehigh River and the Lehigh Canal just a short drive from Easton's Centre Square. The park offers a lot of recreational opportunities, such as kayaking and canoeing and hiking or biking along its many trails and paths. A 2.5 mile section of the D&L Trail runs through the park. In addition there is a bike skills course, a playground and a plenty of spaces for picnics.

A feature of the park is the National Canal Museum where you can rent bicycles and boats, and take a ride on a mule-drawn canal boat on a portion of the Lehigh Canal. We arrived just as the canal boat was leaving, so we walked up the towpath to the locks so we could get some photos of the canal boat as it made its way toward us.

A bridge crossing high over a stream just before it enters a canal. Trees surround the stream and canal on each side.

View from the canal

Trees on the left side of a canal with a towpath on the right side. There is a building in the distance at the end of the towpath and the river is visible through the trees on the right side of the towpath.

Lehigh Canal and Towpath

Large canal boat in a canal, tied down to a loading ramp next to the tow path on the right. Two mules are tied to a fence along the tow path.

Canal boat ready to depart

Canal on the left with lock gates and a bridge over the canal in the distance. On the right of the canal is the towpath and the back of a two and a half story dwelling with 8 windows.with

Lock Tender's House

An algae filled canal leading to open wooden lock gates with a wooden footbridge crossing over the gates. The left side of the lock entryway is lined with flower and the right side is lined with grass.

Canal Lock

A woman leads 2 mules towing a canal boat filled with people past a stable along a canal towpath. Trees line both sides of the canal and leaves float in the water.

Lehigh Canal Boat

A woman in a long dress and apron with a bonnet on her head. She is turning a crank to open the canal lock gates. Behind her is a stone wall topped by a picket fence with trees behind it.

Opening the lock gates

A man & woman guiding 2 mules on a tree-lined tow path on the left side of a canal. A tow rope stretches from the mules to a large canal boat on the canal, filled with people.

Lehigh Canal Boat

A large canal boat full of people on a canal surrounded by trees on both sides

Preparing to turn around

In the foreground is a picket fence with an open gate and two trees on the other side of it. The fence stretches back to a side view of a 2-1/2 story dwelling.

1928 Lock Tender's House

After the canal boat turned around at the locks and headed back to its starting point, we followed a trail along the Lehigh River that led first to the Chain Dam, and then back to the National Canal Museum. We could see across the river to the other end of the Chain Dam where we rode our bikes back in September. The Chain Dam has an interesting history which we didn't know about during our previous trip to the area. The Lehigh Canal runs along the other bank of the Lehigh until it reaches an area a short distance above the dam. At that point the canal boats were poled across the river and in order to prevent them from getting too close to the dam, a large chain was stretched across the river just above the it. The current dam was built in the 1970s to replace the original one, which was destroyed by ice in 1965.

Water falling over a low dam across the Lehigh River

The Chain Dam

Sign stating: The Lehigh Canal. This canal's 47 miles from Mauch Chunk to Easton were constructed 1827-1829. Here the Lehigh Canal connected with the Delaware Canal to Philadelphia, and with the Morris Canal to New York. Vital to the transport of anthracite coal and to the rise of the anthracite iron indurstry, the Lehigh Canal was in full operation until 1932, and in partial operation 10 years longer. This section was fully restored. 1976.

Lehigh Canal History

We had other places to go that day, so we decided to leave visiting the Canal museum for another time and headed to our next stop:

Karl Stirner Arts Trail - Easton, Pennsylvania

The Karl Stirner Arts Trail is a 1.75 mile path that winds along the Bushkill Creek. Stirner was a local sculptor who promoted Easton as a major arts destination. The trail combines art, history and health and wellness stations in an urban environment. We didn't follow the entire trail, but enjoyed our walk along most of it.

A stream winding into the distance with trees on each side and puffy clouds in blue sky above.

Bushkill Creek

A large gate in front of the passageway under an highway overpass. The gate is made of metal rods and resembles twohands raised in prayer in front of a face.

Grace Gate

Colorful fall trees surrounding a leaft strewn path winding past headstones in a cemetery.

View through Grace Gate

A set of large steel chimes on metal frames along a path being played by a young girl while her mother watches.

Musical Path

Three people walking a circular crushed stone path lined with white stones.

Labyrinth

A duck with brightly colored head and beak and light colored wings floating on a stream with leaves floating on the surface of the water behind it.

View from the trail

A large metal disk hanging between steel legs. The sun shines down from above creating the shadow of a bridge on the disk.

Free Bridge - see the shadow of a bridge?

Sculpture made of castings of a tree's root system.

Late Bronze Root

A paved path surrounded by trees on each side.

Along the trail

After we finished our walk along the trail we headed across the creek to the renovated Simon Silk Mill and its collection of shoppes where we enjoyed some delicious handcrafted ice cream at OWowCow before heading back home.

Schuylkill River Trail

Wanting to take advantage of the beautiful weather, we topped off the day with a 15.5 mile bike ride on the Schuylkill River Trail. We had to keep it shorter than our usual rides because we didn't have much time before the sun would set, but it satisfied our urge to get in a ride on one of our favorite trails and gave us the chance to take in some views of the colorful fall leaves.