The best trips are the ones where you don’t make any plans and just see where the wind takes you.
– Unknown
August 3-6, 2024
On our way home from a month-long camping trip to Ohio and Michigan in 2024, we stopped in western Pennsylvania to give ourselves a break from the long drive, and to explore a couple of Pennsylvania State Parks.
We camped at Raccoon Creek State Park for three nights. You can click here for the link to a previous blog post reviewing the campground.
Raccoon Creek State Park is one of Pennsylvania's largest and most visited state parks. The 7,572-acre park features the 101-acre Raccoon Lake, a wildflower reserve, and Frankfort Mineral Springs.
The Wildflower Reserve is said to contain one of the most diverse stands of wildflowers in western Pennsylvania. More than 700 species of plants can be found in the reserve that has a variety of habitats including pine plantations, meadows and forest. The reserve has 4.5 miles of trails to explore. We followed the Jennings and Audubon trails for a total of 2 miles. Unfortunately, the biggest wildflower bloom is in the spring, but we did see some wildflowers along the trail, just not as many as we would have liked. 
 | | View from the trail |
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The Jennings Trail also took us past the Hungerford Cabin, the former get-away for Cy Hungerford, a famous political cartoonist. During the second World War he also drew posters for the Ministry of Defense. After his death in 1983 the cabin was turned over to the state park service.
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 | | Hungerford Cabin |
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 | | Hungerford Cabin |
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Frankfort Mineral Springs are located along a 1.25 mile loop trail of the same name. The springs can be found in a lovely ravine with a sandstone grotto carved into the rock by a waterfall spilling over the rim of the ravine. The waterfall wasn't running while we were there due to the low rainfall in the area prior to our visit. The stream feeding is comes from surface drainage, which explains why it was dry.
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| The waterfall would normally spill from the above the stairs in the photo. |
The springs are located next to the falls, dripping out of the rock face and into a small pool worn over time in a large rock. The water for the spring comes from underground, keeping it running year round. The minerals in the spring's water were once said to "heal ailments" and there was a health spa and resort in the area catering to those who came for the "healing waters." Remnants of the resort can be found along the trail above the waterfall and springs.
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 | | Frankfort Mineral Springs |
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 | | View from the trail |
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 | | Resort ruins |
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 | | View form the trail |
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We also spent an hour and a half enjoying a relaxing float in our kayaks on Raccoon Lake. The Park rents canoes, kayaks, rowboats and hydro bikes for use on the lake. There's swimming (at your own risk) on a sand beach where you can find a bathhouse and a concession stand. To see a video of our visit to the sites at Racoon Creek State Park and our float on the lake, click here.
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| View from our float on the lake |
Hillman State Park is located a short drive away from Raccoon Creek State Park. The park is managed by the state Game Commission. It doesn't have a campground and is primarily used for hunting, fishing on its many streams and ponds, hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding. The park also has a model airplane flying field, and a covered bridge.
The Lyle Covered Bridge was built in 1887. It's only 38 feet long, but is open to vehicles wishing to cross over Brush Run at the eastern border of the park. The bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places.
 | | Lyle Covered Bridge |
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 | | Lyle Covered Bridge |
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That brings to a close our epic month-long camping trip to Ohio, Michigan and western Pennsylvania. We covered a lot of miles during our journey, and collected a ton of memories to bring back with us!
* All photos and videos are the property of the blog owners unless otherwise noted. *
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