The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure.
- Christopher McCandless
During the spring of 2025 we went on a couple of day trips close to our home. This blog entry highlights three of those adventures.
March 9, 2025: Birdsboro Waters Preserve - Berks County, Pennsylvania
If you're a regular follower of this blog, we posted an entry about the Birdsboro Water Preserve back in October of 2023. You can click here to read more about the Preserve.
On this day, we wanted to test our new GoPro, so we didn't take any still photos. But you can view the video on our YouTube channel by clicking here.
We hiked around the preserve on a couple of different trails. The weather was sunny and warm for early March, but we still found some ice clinging to the rock face at the old Dyers Quarry. It was a great day for a hike and it felt good to be outdoors again. Winter is always too long for our taste!
April 18, 2025: Kellys Run Nature Preserve - Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
The 458-acre Kellys Run Nature Preserve is part of the Lancaster Conservancy. The trail that runs through it is a National Recreation Trail and also serves as a section of the Conestoga Trail, a 64-mile hiking trail in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The preserve includes a pollinator garden and is known for having an abundance of wildflowers in the spring, including wild azalea, rhododendron and mountain laurel. Amenities in the preserve include parking, a port-a-john, a pavilion, and a kiosk.
The Kellys Run Trail is a 3.8-mile loop that covers difficult and steep terrain with multiple stream crossings and scrambles across boulders. If you're looking for a workout - this is a great place to do it!
Kellys Run had been on our bucket list for a while. We had seen a few YouTube videos featuring the area and it looked like a great place to hike. We were happy to finally get a chance to go there in the middle of April.
After arriving at the sanctuary, we followed the loop trail in a counter-clockwise direction as it wound its way down into the deep ravine created by Kellys Run, which eventually flows into the Susquehanna River. The preserve features one of Lancaster County's few remaining old-growth forests. The trees towered above us as we descended the steep path from an elevation of 700 feet down to 400 feet.
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We had to climb over and around some pretty big boulders as we made our way along the bottom of the ravine. About halfway we came to an abandoned bridge. After exploring it we followed the trail to the left of it and crossed the stream one last time.
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The second half of the trail is along an old road that climbed quickly and steeply to a parking area at the top. From there we found the trail winding along through the woods and back to the main trailhead where we had started.
We really enjoyed our hike, although we were disappointed that there weren't many wildflowers yet in bloom along the trail. We'll just have to return another time to see them!
If you'd like to see a video of our hike in Kellys Run Preserve, please click here for the link to our YouTube Channel. And if you view it, please give it a thumbs up and leave a comment!
April 21, 2025: Dalton Tulip Farm - Swedesboro, New Jersey
Dalton Farms in Swedesboro, New Jersey, is well known for its Tulip Festival in April and its Sunflower & Pumpkin Festival in September & October. People come from miles around to enjoy the farm's seasonal offerings.
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Our daughter invited me to go with her and her family to see the fields of colorful tulips and some daffodils. Jeff decided to sit this one out.
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Dalton Farms is a 99-acre family owned and run farm located in southern New Jersey just a couple of miles from the Commodore Barry Bridge and 12 miles from the Delaware Memorial Bridge. The farm has been tied to the same family since 1790.
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In addition to the seasonal offerings, visitors will find food trucks, play areas for children along with a hay bale slide, a lake with pedal boats, shaded paths to walk, an animal pen and chicken to feed.
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It was a beautifully sunny day as we strolled through the grounds taking in all the colorful flowers. We just may have to return in the fall for the Sunflower and Pumpkin Festival, which also offers a corn maze to explore.
If you decided to go to Dalton Farm, keep in mind there is an admission fee.
* All photos and videos are the property of the blog owners unless otherwise noted. *
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