One of my favorite parts about hiking is talking to other hikers! A few weeks ago, while wrapping…read moreup a different trail, another hiker asked where else I liked to hike. When I admitted I'd never been to Opossum Lake, she looked at me like I was missing out and told me I needed to check it out. Well...challenge accepted! When I got home, I looked it up and discovered it was only about 25 minutes from my house. Somehow, yet again, I had managed to overlook another great outdoor spot practically in my own backyard. A beautiful four-mile trail around a lake? Count me in! I headed out early on a mid-July Sunday morning, hoping to beat both the heat and the crowds. GPS brought me right to the parking area without any trouble, and even though there were already quite a few people there fishing, I had no problem finding a parking spot. The trail itself was fantastic! One of the things I appreciated most was how much the terrain changed throughout the loop. Parts of the trail were covered with crushed stone, others with pine needles, tanbark or natural dirt. It kept the hike interesting without ever becoming difficult. The entire four-mile loop is well-marked, easy to follow and beautifully shaded, making it an excellent summer hike even when temperatures start creeping up. The recent rain left a few muddy spots along the trail, but nothing that slowed me down. PRO TIP: If you're hiking after a rainstorm, use a little extra caution on the wooden footbridges. They can get a bit slick. The trail offered plenty to see along the way. I spotted birds, turtles and beautiful views across the lake and I found myself stopping more than once simply to enjoy the peaceful scenery. One unexpected highlight came when I crossed the spillway bridge. The interpretive signs explaining the history of the dam, the high-water markers and why the bridge was built so high above the creek added a neat educational element to the hike that I wasn't expecting. I always appreciate when a place teaches me something while I'm out exploring. Beyond hiking, it's easy to see why Opossum Lake has become such a popular recreation area. Throughout my visit I saw anglers casting from the shoreline, boats out enjoying the water and families making use of the many picnic areas scattered around the lake. Whether you're looking to hike, fish, paddle or simply enjoy a peaceful picnic, there's plenty of room to spread out and enjoy the scenery. I can already tell Opossum Lake is going to earn a permanent spot on my short list of local hikes. It's close to home. It's easy enough to enjoy without needing to mentally prepare for a mountain expedition. And it's beautiful enough that it never feels like "just another walk." Sometimes you want a huge adventure. Sometimes you just want to lace up your hiking boots, get a few peaceful miles under your belt and spend some time outside. Opossum Lake is absolutely perfect for those days!

'Possum Lake is a great place to go for a quick hike or paddle. My favorite thing is to hike…read morearound the lake in the evening then head out in the kayak. The distance around the lake is, I think, about 3 or 3 1/2 miles and there are some small hills, steps, and mostly dirt or pine-needle-covered terrain. In terms of kayaking, I can paddle around all areas in about an hour. It's a convenient, easy-to-get-to location and it's open until 10pm.

It was easy to catch fish and they will clean it for you and you can bring it home and eat it. It…read morewas an awesome experience.

People were nice & knowledgeable. There were plenty of trout to catch. They had everything that you…read moreneeded to fish.

(This is for the Speedwell Forge Lake which is right next door to the actual park itself.)…read more If you are so inclined for a little light reading and/or mapery, see the below for all of the technical necessaries regarding the lake. pfbc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=c3a9b1eef46b4ebe85bf2c883fa7f73e&center=-76.30666700%2c40.20333300&level=13 co.lancaster.pa.us/DocumentCenter/View/521/Speedwell-Forge-Park-Location-Map?bidId= www.fishandboat.com/About-Us/PFBC-by-Region/PFBC-Lakes/Pages/SpeedwellForgeLake.aspx Looking for a new place put the kayaks in the water is what led us here. Why? To me, the lake is big enough to give you some interesting things to see and explore, but not too big that you can't see it all in a few hours. There are two docks you can launch from - one on either side of Brubaker Valley Road. It was mid-morning on a weekday and there were seven or eight other kayaks out there (mostly people fishing) and a few small boats that were also fishing. Plenty of wildlife with a Bald Eagle, a deer, a few Blue Heron and fish constantly jumping out of the water. At the far west end of the lake, where it gets shallow and you come to where it gets fed by the Hammer Creek, you expect to see a lot of ducks, turtles, frogs and since you're at the side of the Speedwell Forge Wolf Sanctuary - you can hear some barking & howling and even catch a few glimpses through the trees of a few of the residents running around. Fwiw, I can imagine that on weekends, this place getting very crowded and while it does have some size to it, compared to some other county/state parks, it's not that big. But for a weekday, it was more than fine. Beautiful. Peaceful. What more could you want?

This is a great place to go kayaking and fishing. Looks easy enough to navigate putting in even if…read moreyou are a beginner. First time here, apparently it's been recently drained and restocked. Lots of kayaks and canoes laying in the grassy areas, leading to a sense of serenity and safety, which is refreshing. Beautiful views & lots of wildlife all leading to a peaceful relaxing experience.

These are in reference to the Disc Golf…read more.. 11/2025: Renovations have completed, but they didn't turn out nice and have made the course a bit odd. All the tees and baskets remained in the same place, but they dumped loads of sand all over the park. There are sea shells in it, so unlike I originally thought, which was it was removed creek bank, I guess they trucked it in. Just odd. Only weeds grow on the sand. The park is still fine for a quick stop over lunch, but I wouldn't want to play there with others unless I was pressed for time. I should be fair and say kids might have fun finding little shells in the sand, and the renovation had nothing to do with trying to enhance the disc golf experience. The same basket in the review below is still crooked. 2022-23: Nice short course. Well kept. 2 Baskets crooked. Every other trip is usually ended short without playing through due to off leash dogs walkers. Although the dogs are always good, the people are not so bright. The dogs will chase a disc that heads their way. After that happened twice, I just leave now.

Super cute and peaceful park, the dog walk was lovely! Signs everywhere welcoming fishing in the…read morestocked creek and for doggy areas. Beautiful fall foliage

I love this park I have been coming here for family picnics since I was a child..but now that I am…read moregrown I see it's a problem with the restrooms...I wish you could make it more handicapped... it's very hard getting a person to the restroom building when they are on a walker or a wheelchair due to the steps and it being on a slight hill and being so far away......is it possible to put a restroom on a flat area by the picnic area???

According to my young cousin, who actually lives here, the snow cleans up the goose poop mentioned…read morein the other review! Anyway, as you can tell from this remark and also from my photos, I was there in winter, right after the snow had fallen (although the creek was not frozen). For us, it was a nice shoveled path through a large snow field with a lot of attractive if (of course) bare trees. If you brought proper snow boots (unlike me) it would probably be a great place to run around in the snow, at least if you don't have one of those gigantic Pennsylvania backyards.

We had a wonderful stay at Gifford Pinchot State Park!…read more The camping area at GP is separated into A loop and B loops with approximately 300 sites. All sites had a paved pad, varying in size depending on the location, with tent site being smaller. Most sites have electric and there are 22 full hookup sites in the camping area. Both loops are peninsulas into the lake, which is convenient to launching boats directly from many sites. Loop A is closer to the designated swimming area with a sandy beach and playground. B loop is closer to many of the hiking trails and also several boat launch areas. It is nice that the camping area and amenities are separated from the public day use area. At the entrance to the camping area there are three dump stations. During our stay we were at a full hookup site which was very spacious and often hard to find in PA State Parks. Our site was #299 and for some reason the entire site was paved/blacktop, which was different than all the other sites where the pad was paved and the picnic table area was gravel/grass. While this site made it easy to level our camper, it became quite hot in the afternoon/evening after the sun had baked it all day. Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed GP and couldn't believe we hadn't visited before because it is a great state park. Wood is available for purchase at the campground hosts' sites and ice at the park office. As with most PA state parks, quiet hours are at 9:00PM, which is a bit early, and there is no alcohol allowed in the park. We look forward to returning to GP in the future.

First stay here while traveling and it is a fine spot to stay while passing through. They did have…read morea camp host in our area, A, though we never saw them even when we went looking b/c of a question we had. Never saw them the entire time we were there. The park is fine, needs a little TLC which the volunteers are doing a great job taking care of.

We went during the day, in beautiful weather and it was so peaceful. There are benches all along…read morethe water and rocking chairs outside of the information center to view the Susquehanna River. The staff at the information center is very friendly and help you decide where you want to walk on the River Trail if you decide to do that. If you start your walk from there, you walk across the railroad tracks and head towards Marietta on the sidewalk for a while until you are closer to the river. She suggested we drive 5 minutes to the next place to park and showed me on a map. They do have bathrooms at the information center. They also have a company that rents kayaks. This is where the boat launch is and trucks with boat trailers have to use the entrance to the water on the right side of the building and park there. On holidays and weekends I'm sure it's very busy so I would park at the lot across the street or at another entrance point. The trail is paved and everyone was friendly. There is a place to eat right across the street from the info center. You can walk or bike the River Trail or just go and sit and have a nice time.

A really nice small park and a perfect scenic stop if you're at the Turkey Hill ice cream…read moreexperience.