Promised Land State Park in Pennsylvania

Promised Land was named by settlers of the Shaker religious sect, who thought they had found a land of honey and milk. What they really had found was a land of rocks and swamps that was not suitable for farming or even gardening. They moved on sarcastically calling the area the "promised land." Fortunately, you will enjoy it much more than they did. The rocks and swamps of Promised Land are interesting geologically, and are home to some fascinating wildlife, including bears, deer, turkeys, and bobcats.

The Kleinhans Trail is blue blazed and is easy to follow. There are plenty of huckleberries to pick alongside the trail in July.

Soon you enter a hemlock and rhododendron forest to walk beside a small stream. At .8 mile, turn left on a woods road, staying on the blue-blazed trail. The road is rocky and wet, a favorite habitat for the red eft. The eft is the juvenile stage of the red spotted newt. Their color ranges from brown to scarlet to an almost fluorescent orange. In the same location, however, they all tend to have the same color. You may find it difficult to avoid stepping on them they are sometimes that numerous. In late summer, the newt turns olive drab with a yellow underside with red spots and lives and mates in shallow ponds.

Cross an intermittent stream, then a larger stream on a wooden bridge. Pass a large group of rocks, then reach a grassy road. There are signs of logging activity here. Scattered large stumps lie among the young oak, birch, beech, and maple. Turn left to reenter the mature forest at a yellow gate. At 3 miles, you reach the parking lot and your car.

There are several other fascinating trails worth exploring in this 5,800 acre Promised Land State Park. Conservation Island Trail is a 1-mile nature trail on an island in the lake. The Little Falls Trail takes you past several waterfalls on the East Branch of Wallenpaupack Creek. Stop at the park office for a map of these and other trails.

Sources:

1. Boyd and Linda Newman, Great Hikes in the Poconos and Northeast Pennsylvania, STACKPOLE BOOKS, 5067 Ritter Road, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055

www.stackpolebooks.com