The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.
- Eleanor Roosevelt
After spending the previous week visiting Letchworth State Park in New York, we headed west toward Erie, Pennsylvania where we planned to spend two full days exploring Presque Isle and some sites in and around the Erie area.
July 16 to 19, 2025
During our visit to the area, we camped at Folly's End Campground in Girard. The campground is located along the Elk Creek, Lake Erie's largest tributary.
The campground has 83 water & electric sites in two loops. Two of those sites also have sewer hookups, although one of the two sites was a permanent site. We opted for a water & electric only site, leaving the full hookup site for our daughter and her family, who were camping with us. Our site was located next to the creek, making it handy for fishing, although we didn't catch anything when we tried. There were picnic tables and fire rings at each site.
 | | Our campsite |
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 | | Our campsite |
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 | | Elk Creek as seen from our campsite |
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The campground had 2 bathhouses, one on each loop. The bathhouse in our loop was very much in need of updating, but it was usable.
Other amenities included a full-service flyfishing shop in the small camp store, a dump station, pump out service, a playground, horseshoe court, hiking trail, picnic shelter, basketball net, ping pong and a ball field.
We try to give honest reviews of the campgrounds we stay in and rarely have to give a negative review. However, we would probably not choose to stay at this campground again. The loop we were located in had mostly permanent sites, and the people weren't very friendly. Adding that to the bathhouse with old, leaky fixtures, it just wasn't what we had hoped for. On the positive side, it was a quiet campground, although I'm sure it's more lively on the weekends. Fortunately we were only planning on staying a couple of nights.
To be honest, we really didn't ride through the rest of the campground to check to see if conditions there were better. We spent most of our time in the area exploring Erie and the state parks, so it was good enough for the three nights we stayed. But we would not opt to stay there again unless we had no other choice.
Presque Isle State Park - July 17 & 18, 2025
Presque Isle State Park, near Erie, Pennsylvania, is a 3,200 acre sandy peninsula that curves into Lake Erie. The park is often referred to as Pennsylvania’s only “seashore,” and is the state’s only Great Lakes shoreline. In addition to a beautiful shoreline, the day-use park offers visitors a lot of recreational activities, including swimming on its beaches, boating, fishing, hiking, bicycling, and in-line skating.
Karl Boyes Multi-Purpose National Recreation Trail
Our first full day in the park turned out to be a very cloudy and windy day. Undeterred, we started out early riding our bicycles on the Karl Boyes Multi-Purpose National Recreation Trail. The 13.4 mile trail loops around the perimeter of the state park.
We parked at the first parking area after the park entrance, and then took a quick peek at a very stormy-looking beach. After collecting our bikes, we crossed Peninsula Drive to the other side where we followed the flat, paved path along the Presque Isle Bay shoreline. We had great water views, passed by observation decks, picnic facilities and a marina. There were plenty of places to stop along the way to rest for a bit and use restrooms, as well pavilions where we could get out of the rain from the brief squalls that blew through.
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| View from First Beach (7/17/25) |
We stopped briefly at Waterworks Park, which originally included two settling ponds to help with the cleaning of Erie's water supply, a pumphouse, bath houses, pavilions, a ferry slip and picnic shelters, making it a popular destination. The pumphouse and water supply system operated from 1917 to 1949. The Erie Water Works Authority turned the property over to the state park in 1957. Today the pumphouse is a surrey and bike rental concession and the pavilion is rented for events. The settling ponds are now stocked with trout and used for fishing. We stopped to take some photos of the Waterworks Tower, built in 1906, which looks a lot like a lighthouse, but is really a steel intake tower for the water supply.
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| Waterworks Tower (7/17/25) |
After about 5 miles we arrived at Crystal Point and the Perry Monument. Built in 1926, The monument commemorates the victory of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812. Just around the corner from the monument in Misery Bay is the Lady Kate, a boat that offers tours of Lake Erie and Presque Isle Bay.
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 | | Perry Monument (7/17/25) |
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After passing over a bridge separating Misery Bay from the inland lagoons, the trail goes on-road for a long stretch via bike lanes that aren't fully separated from traffic. However we found that the vehicles passing us kept their speed low. Along the way we passed by a park where you can rent canoes and kayaks, or launch your own.
Shortly beyond Misery Bay we left the trail and turned right onto Coast Guard Road, riding past picturesque houseboats on Horseshoe Pond as we made our way to the North Pier and its lighthouse. The lighthouse is located at the end of the Erie Harbor Channel on a long pier. The Erie Harbor North Pierhead Light, also known as the Presque Isle North Pier Light, was built in 1858 and is a square, metal tower. You can walk out the pier to the light and enjoy views of the boats passing through the channel into Presque Isle Bay.
 | | Boathouses on Horseshoe Pond (7/18/25) |
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 | | North Pierhead Lighthouse (7/18/25) |
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After returning to the trail we continued past the access road for Gull Point before arriving at Budny Beach (Beach 10) on the northern side of the Peninsula. The wind from this point on was pretty ferocious, blowing sand over the dunes and across the road.
About 1.5 miles later we arrived at the Presque Isle Lighthouse. We took a few quick photos before heading back on the trail. We planned to drive our truck back later to do a full tour of the lighthouse, built in 1872, and to climb the 79 steps to the top for the view.
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| Presque Isle Lighthouse (7/17/25) |
After leaving the lighthouse on our bikes we quickly passed by 5 beach access points until the trail turned right onto a separate road with no vehicular traffic. The wind blowing through the openings in the dunes did a wonderful job of sandblasting us as we pedaled along! We ended our ride where we had started, at Beach 1. During our ride we ran into a little rain, but that was mild compared to the wind. We managed to see most of the main features of Presque Isle during our ride, but we were very happy to be out of the wind!
If you'd like to ride along with us on the path around Presque Isle, click here for our YouTube video.
Tom Ridge Environmental Center
After completing our bike ride we explored the Tom Ridge Environmental Center, which is located at the entrance to the state park. The center is open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., except on major holidays. However, the center is only open on Sundays and Mondays between November 1 and March 31. Admission is Free.
The 65,000 square-foot green-designed building includes the park office, a visitor center, a gift shop and a cafe. The center has interactive exhibits that teach visitors about the forces of wind and water and their effects on the peninsula over time. In addition, we learned about the history of Presque Isle, its ecosystems, wildlife, plants, bird migration and more. There's also an outdoor play space for children and a 75-foot tall glass enclosed observation tower from which we had views of Lake Erie.
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| View from on top of the Tom Ridge Environmental Center (7/17/25) |
To watch our virtual tour of the Tom Ridge Environmental Center, click here for our YouTube video.
Presque Isle Lighthouse
We also returned to the Presque Isle Lighthouse so we could explore it more. The redbrick dwelling with attached 57-foot tower was built in 1872. It's still a working lighthouse and is maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard. There is an admission charge to tour the lighthouse, but you can explore the grounds and visit the gift shop for free.
 | | Presque Isle Lighthouse (7/17/25) |
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 | | View from the lighthouse gallery (7/17/25) |
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We toured the lighthouse and found the docents to be quite knowledgeable. We made a video while exploring the inside of lighthouse and grounds. You can click here to view it.
Presque Isle Lagoons - Kayaking
We spent part of our second full day in the area back at Presque Isle to do some kayaking. Although you can rent kayaks in the state park, we opted to bring our own so we could explore the lagoons in the interior of the peninsula. The lagoons were formed in 1909 when the Pennsylvania Department of Fisheries dredged the interior ponds for use as a fish hatchery. Although the fish hatchery never happened, the lagoons were created and connected to Misery Bay. The waterways became clogged by reed grasses and narrow-leaf cattails. Eventually the state cleared the invasive species making them navigable.
Today there is a free pontoon boat ride through the connected lagoons that are also very popular with kayakers. We saw quite a few kayakers during our nearly 2 hour exploration, but the maze of lagoons kept us from feeling like we were crowded. Actually, the further we paddled away from the boat launch located next to the Presque Isle Canoe & Boat Livery, the more peaceful and quiet it became. We felt like the rest of the world was a million miles away and all we could hear were the quiet sounds of our paddles and the calls of birds flying overhead as paddled our way around Big Pond, and over to Long Pond.
The lagoons are home to coyotes, beavers and otters, although we didn't see any of them. Fishermen can also catch crappie, bluegill, sunfish, largemouth bass, rock bass northern pike, carp and bowfin. We had a great time exploring the lagoons and ponds that were alive with lily pads, flowers, blue herons, eagles, and osprey, as well as dragonflies flitting around us as we paddled along.
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 | | Osprey in its nest |
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 | | Bird in flight |
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 | | Great Blue Heron |
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We paddled as far as the bridge crossing over the northernmost point of Long Pond before turning back to where we started at the boat launch near Misery Bay. It was the perfect day to paddle around the lagoons - we had gentle breezes keeping us cool the entire way. We made a YouTube video of our adventure in the lagoons. You can click here to view it.
Lady Kate Boat Tour
After completing our exploration of the lagoons, we joined our daughter and her family for a ride on the Lady Kate. The Lady Kate is a 65-foot tour boat docked near the Perry Memorial in the state park. It took us out into Presque Isle Bay for a 90-minute narrated tour of Erie and Presque Isle's shores. Normally, it also goes around Gull Point into the open waters of Lake Erie to see the other side of the Isle, however the winds were still high that day and the surf on the lake too rough. Instead we cruised a little deeper into Presque Isle Bay.
If you would like to ride along with us on the Lady Kate, click here for our YouTube video.
Gull Point - Hiking
We weren't quite finished exploring Presque Isle after our boat ride, so we drove out to the parking area for Gull Point and hiked the trail there. Gull Point is the easternmost point of the peninsula and is a popular area for birdwatchers. Every year shorebirds migrate from beyond the Arctic Circle to South America and back again, stopping there on their way.
This portion of the peninsula has been reserved as a State Park Natural Area for the birds to rest, feed and nest. Although most of the area is closed to the public from April 1 to October 31, we were able to hike on a designated trail that took us to two observation platforms. We were only able to get photos of some geese and sea gulls - the other birds were too quick to capture on film, but we did enjoy the walk out to the point and back. The trail became a little elusive as it veered off onto the shore of Lake Erie and we had to look closely for the path leading back to the point on the other side, but the walk on the beach was an added bonus. It was a nice way to fill the time before meeting our family for dinner in Erie.
 | | View across a marshy pond |
 | | Fowlers Toad, found along the trail |
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 | | One of two observation decks |
 | | Purple Loosestrife |
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If you'd like to tag along on our walk to Gull Point, click here for our YouTube video.
We managed to explore quite a bit of Presque Isle during our two full day visit. We biked it, kayaked it, hiked it, and boated along its shore, doing all the things we love to do most!
* All photos and videos are the property of the blog owners unless otherwise noted. *
