Hike #1142; Spring Ridge/Reading to Blue Marsh Lake

Hike #1142; Spring Ridge/Reading to Blue Marsh Lake

7/14/18 Spring Ridge/Reading to Blue Marsh Lake (Old Church Rd) with Jason Itell, Kralc Leahcim (Lerch), Ellie Zabeth, James Quinn, Justin Gurbisz Brittany Audrey, Craig Craig, Sue Bennett, Robin Deitz, and Daniel Trump

This next hike would be another point to point, the 28th in the 911memorialtrail series.
I had shifted recently the route we would be using after speaking with planner Robert Thomas regarding his plans. Pedestrian restrictions on the “official” route on the website was going to be a huge problem, and I wasn’t sure what to do.

Historic at Berks Penn State

The series has actually been really great, but with the route coming up, I was worried that it’d be not so good from here on out. Fortunately however, Mr. Thomas’s plan ended up being something that I found much more exciting than I’d anticipated it would.
His plan was for the pedestrian route, and maybe down the road the main route, to trace the historic route of the Union Canal.
The Union Canal has been on my “to do” list for years, and I’ve been fascinated by it, so tracing it’s route is definitely something I’m keen on.

Penn State Berks lands

I had focused the last few hikes in this series around the Reading area, and my work schedule had me skip a month of them because I have just too many things I want to do, but we returned to where we had left off, and I came up with a route that overlapped slightly what we had done before, and then continued on.
We had done Union Canal out to the Schuykill, and followed Schuykill River Trail south, and we had been on it as far west as Reber’s Bridge Road and then areas east. It was a nice section so I planned the overlap.

Wertz's Red Bridge

I decided that we would pick up the Union Canal at Wertz’s Red Bridge, the historic covered bridge that holds the distinction of the longest single span covered bridge in Pennsylvania.

Wertz's Red Bridge

We could then follow Union Canal west to Blue Marsh Lake, which would make up the rest of the hike. We had the choice of either doing the north or south side of the lake for this one.

Wertz's Red Bridge

I made the meeting point to be Old Church Road parking area around three quarters the way around the Blue Marsh Lake. Kind of a middle of nowhere lot with a picnic site on the waterfront. We could shuttle from there east to our starting point.
For this one, I chose the area of strip mall by the Barnes and Noble to be the starting point, in the Spring Ridge section of Reading, heading west to Old Church Road.
We shuttled to that point, then parked out in the open. It was a brutally hot day.

Gauging station at Red Bridge

It worked out to be the right hike to do on this day due to the heat. It had been coming up like crazy, and working all week in it was getting to be particularly brutal.
If this had been a totally open hike without much water along the way, I would have foregone doing a hike in this series another month, but this was perfect.
We started walking from the Barnes and Noble down Broadcasting Road heading north. It was horribly hot in the sun there, and we passed beneath Route 222, then paralleled fields.

Wertz's Red Bridge

The Penn State Berks campus was on both sides of the road at this point, and there was an historic stone house on our right. To the left, there were farm buildings and what might have been a maintenance area or something. When we got just past the buildings, I opted to try to follow the north side of these fields to the west.
We followed the edge of the fields beyond the buildings, then skirted cultivated fields. There was corn growing in them pretty high, and we passed private homes beyond trees to the right.

Historic marker

It got a little bit grown in, but it wasn’t too bad. We walked along field edges heading from north to west, and then when we got closer to the edge of the tree line closer to the right, I bullied on through out to it.

Reeser Farm House

We came out to Tulpehocken Road, and there was a guy parked there getting ready to run or something. He started questioning me if there was a trail back there, or if he could walk it. He was looking for new places to go, and others joined in telling him about the group. I think he was hoping for more of a trail than what we were on. We turned right, and then immediately left into the south side of Wertz’s Red Bridge. I checked out some steps that went down to the left to an old gauging station on the Tulpehocken Creek.

Historic Union Canal center

Wertz’s Red Bridgne was built in 1867 by Amandas Knerr. There used to be covered bridges everywhere, but it’s now one of only five remaining in Berks County.
The 220 foot long bridge was restored some twenty or so years ago and is now only open to pedestrian traffic.
We passed through the bridge, and then checked out the historic Reeser Farm House on the other side. It now serves as the home for the Berks County Heritage Center. The county bought it in 1978.

C. Howard Hiester Canal Center

The farm was an existing mid 1700s farm house, purchased by Abraham Reeser in 1774. Reeser added on a wing entrance in 1790, and another kitchen was added in the early 1800s. More improvements and additions continued through the 1920s.

Model of Stoudt's Covered Bridge over the Schuykill

It became the Berks Co Heritage Center, and expansion on public interpretation continued to improve.
Tours began of the Gruber Wagon Works, which is behind the house. I would love to tour that, but we’ll have to plan another future trip.
The building behind and to the left was the C. Howard Hiester Canal Center. Charles Howard Hiester was the fourth generation of canal met, who grew up in his grandfather’s boat yard. He had a personal collection of canal memorobelia he donated to Berks County in 1976.

House boat mockup at the canal center

There was all sorts of stuff inside the place I could have spent looking forever at. There were models and such, historic displays, and even a model of Stoudt’s Covered Bridge, which used to be the longest single span covered bridge until it was destroyed in 1948.

Union Canal route and Wertz's Red Bridge

Near the back section of it was a plaque about the building and it’s benefactor, and a set of wooden posts that apparently are original Union Canal arms for lock operation.
In the front of the building, there was an authentic reproduction of a house boat, like the ones that operated on the canal.
The museum occupies a former dairy barn, which was built to replace the original bank barn that was destroyed by fire.
The Union Canal was completed in 1827, and remained in operation until 1884. By that time, the cost of maintenance due to leaks was too much, and it couldn’t compete with the railroad.

Union Canal at the center

We left the building and made our way back down toward the bottom of the covered bridge. The canal originally would have passed beneath the road there by way of another bridge, but it was filled in not long after the canal’s abandonment.
We turned right to follow the canal towpath to the west, and the prism was still quite obvious.
It’s a very nice section along the Tulpehocken Creek ahead into the woods. We continued and soon reached the former Lock #48. There is a house right across on the berm side.

Lock #48

Foundation ruins of where the lock tender’s house used to stand were on the near side. I knew the lock was here from the previous visit, but if I had originally walked by this spot before knowing, it would have been really easy to miss, because it was so grown in.
We continued walking from here, and James was trying to meet up because he had run late.
I recommended that he park at Body Zone Sports and Wellness Complex and try to connect with us where Paper Mill Road meets Tulpehocken Road on the south side.

Union Canal Lock 37

There was no bridge there, and I figured we could have him meet up by going to one of the near ones. We continued walking until we got to where Paper Mill Road used to cross over the Tulpehocken.
The bridge that used to stand there was called Van Reed’s Covered Bridge, built in 1837.
It’s amazing there’s just no historic marker of any kind to talk about the history in these places. This was an obviously paved road that went right to a bridge abutment, and people certainly wonder.

Historic image of Van Reed's Covered Bridge

I only know what I know about it from having searched out the information specifically.

Historic map of Union Canal

We reached the abandoned road crossing site a short bit after passing beneath the super high bridges that carry Route 222. James was already in the area, so I had to buy him some time.

Union Canal Lock 47

It was mercilessly hot out, and so I decided that this was a good time to take a swim. We walked the old road to the left, out to where Van Reed’s Bridge used to be, and then took a little path down into the area to the left where we found an access to the creek.
The water was actually surprisingly cold, considering the fact that this flows not far ahead from the rather still waters of Blue Marsh Lake. Still, it was quite refreshing, and we hung out here for a little while. James tried to call me multiple times while I was in.

Lock #47

Eventually, James was on the other side of the creek, and we could hear him hollering out to us. He was going to wade across at this point, and then ended up in a mess of weeds.

Lock #47

We hung out for a while, and I started getting concerned about where he ended up. I think he went back and tried to find another place to cross, and I think he actually did, but I’m not actually sure which way he went.
We got out of the river and made our way back up to the old towpath and continued to the west, and somehow we got him.
We continued on ahead a bit, and soon reached Lock #47, the only somewhat restored one on the entire canal. I think it had been done in the 1970s, and is still holding up alright.

Turtles in the lock

The construction of the wooden locks looks kind of flimzy to me compared to what they probably used when the canal was in service, but it was adequate for a representation.
Justin climbed up on the arms used to open the locks, and they were still strong enough to hold him up.
They also must have repointed the stone or something on this lock, because the other ones are more of a rough cut and seem to be more badly deteriorated. This one was pretty good. The hardware was also still on top.

Lock #47

It’s amazing to me that the authentic metal used to hold the wooden components remains in place with no one trying to steal them. That’s always a problem on the Morris Canal.
We continued on upstream along the towpath, and eventually reached Reber’s Bridge Road.
This was once also the site of an historic covered bridge that has long since vanished, as well as an old mill. Mills lined up and down the Tulpehocken in the early days, and by 1900, a lot of them had already vanished or were in ruins.

Historic image of Reber's Mill Bridge

The Reber’s Mill Bridge was built in 1850, but I’m not sure how and when it it was destroyed.

Union Canal Trail

We had picked up the trail at this point before, because that was what I understood to be where the Schuykill River Trail route was. As it turns out, even if it was, it was rerouted.
I had never done the section from this point, and it turns out the Schuykill River Trail was routed further up, along County Welfare Road, so I would have to do that section again on a future hike. It passes more public lands and has more potential anyway.

Union Canal Trail

The trail continued on the towpath for a while, but then it seemed to start to ascend to the right a bit. I didn’t pay attention enough to see where it turned off. Even before that, it apparently crosses the former canal briefly too, which makes it hard to pick out.
As the trail ascended to the right, I could see what looked like the canal below to the right, and it was getting badly overgrown. I would still like to get down there and try to trace it one day, but this was definitely not the day for that.

Union Canal Trail

The more we climbed away from the creek, the less shade we had. It was brutally hot to be doing a hike in these conditions, and we were all feeling it. The trail came up to cross Swiftwater Lane, an access road, and then skirted the edge of corn fields on a wide path.
Only little bits of shade here and there relieved us on this section. It was then I started considering that the north side of Blue Marsh Lake was probably less shaded than the south side from what I could see, and the south had better food stop and swim spots.

Union Canal trail

We continued on to the north until we got to the Union Canal trail head and an access road that goes down hill to the left, to the Stilling Basin below the main dam of Blue Marsh Lake. It was here I decided to pose it to the group to see what they wanted to do, the south side or the north side.
Jason Itell was a help here. He knows the lake very well. In fact, he’d been telling me about doing a hike here for no less than a decade, so it was great that he was able to make it when I finally got around to doing it.

Union Canal trail

I didn’t try to convince them one way or another. My plan was to stop at an Italian place if we took the north route, or stop at a bar and grill if we took the south. We’d get food either way.
Jason chimed in and assured that if we were to take the south route, that there would be significantly more shade. I think that won everyone.
We turned left from here along the access road, and immediately passed by what looked like an abandoned farm building or something on the left.

Union Canal trail

Pretty soon, the main dam cam into view to the right. To the left, there was a nice little picnic area at the stilling basin. Some of what we were seeing must have been remnants of the Union Canal on the north side of the Tulpehocken Creek. It would have traveled in that route, and aerial images show that there are still towpath and prism remnants through there. We crossed over the base of the dam, and then the trail turned off to the left, down along the Tulpehocken. Until this point, all trail we had been following was wide, crushed stone.

Blue Marsh Dam

At this point, most of the trail we were on shifted dramatically to more simple foot path.
Blue Marsh Lake, like many reservoirs, has it’s share of rumors and folklore. Of course, like most of them, people say there are submerged houses beneath the lake. Of course, this is not the case, but there is stuff down there including roadways and bridges.
The name of the lake takes it’s name from a settlement called Blue Marsh that used to exist in the Pleasant Valley before the reservoir was built.

Library of Congress image of Weidenhammer Mill, built 1741

The lake was created as part of a flood control project, as per the Flood Control Act of 1962.

Former Union Canal site below the dam

The homes in the lake bed were taken by eminent domain starting in 1870, and work began on the reservoir in 1974. It was complete, and the lake full in 1979.
Reading into this further, I understand more the controversy that this lake caused. There were a lot of historic structures lost to this project. Many of them were colonial, such as the Weidenhammer Grist Mill, built in 1741. There were also other one of a kind structures such as an odd octagonal home.

The Tulpehocken below the dam

Of course, the Union Canal was completely inundated in this area, and one of the original lock tender's homes was among the buildings demolished for the lake.
Hurricane Agnes struck in 1972 and flooded the Tulpehocken, which halted some of the dam work, but I suppose it probably also helped to solidify the deal to complete it and show some sort of need for flood protection.
A few buildings actually were saved, including the Gruber Wagon WOrks, which had been moved to the Berks County Culteral Center where we had first got on the Union Canal.

Rare octagonal house destroyed by the lake

We continued on the trail, as it made it's way up hill away from the Tulpehocken Creek. It was a rockier, tougher trail. I met a family on their way up that said they were on their way to a "hidden spot" to swim and such. I didn't know if swimming was officially allowed here, but no one seemed to care really. Despite being so close to Reading, and it being a hot day, the property was not overrun, and it had outstanding little spots along it.
We emerged at the top of the main dam, and the trail turned to the left briefly, then right into some woods. The trail was still pretty wide, but not at all too wide. It provided some shade.

Lake Border Trail

We got to where the trail got closer to the shore, but sort of out of sight from the main dam, and took a tiny side path to a great little spot to swim (had we gone a little further, we would have had an even better one).
It was so hot, I think just about everyone got in at this point.
There were speed boats going by pretty often, and at some point we could see rangers or park police or something coming up. I thought they were after us for swimming, but then realized that out here, they're not worried about us. They were just going after the boaters for going too fast.

Union Canal lock tender's house destroyed by the lake

When everyone was good and refreshed, we started to continue on. The trail switched between sections of woods and shade and open areas. I think we crossed another levee or something. There were a lot of side trails going off, but the main one, despite it not having a lot of standard blazing, was usually pretty easy to follow.
We continued to where the trail turned right on abandoned Old State Hill Road. This was one of the many roads going into the valley that's now flooded out below.
Rather than continue on at this point, we all turned left on Old State Hill Road to follow it up hill. It seemed steeper than it was because it was so hot.

Abandoned Old State Road

It was all worth it when we got to the top. Not only was there a nice view out toward the reservoir, we had Ganly's Irish Pub and Restaurant for a lunch break.

Old State Hill Road

We got a big table that fit the entire group, and ordered some food. I don't even remember what I had, but I remember it was absolutely excellent. I do, however, remember I had a drink called "Big Black Voodoo Daddy", which was an imperial stout.
I think everyone was pretty happy with the lunch we got. I felt great after my Voodoo drinks.
We made our way out from here back to the overlook area where I decided to get us a group photo.
There has always been a nice overlook at this point even in the years before the reservoir.

View on Old State Hill Road

Dan was feeling pretty knocked out. He’d been doing a lot of miles with me anyway, and so he was planning on cutting out early and taking a more direct way back to his car.
The trail route is anything but direct, truthfully. It take many curves and such sort of following the perimeter somewhat closely, but also passing through farm lands. It’s a lot more miles to go around the than than is actually necessary, but it really was nice. We got back on the trail at the bottom which continued on Old State Road.

VIew

We crossed an access road to the State Hill Boat Launch, and passed a side trail called the Squirrel Run Nature Trail. We didn’t do that one this time, but I might go back and try to do more a different time in the future.
We continued walking through woods on the other side, and somewhere around a little creek inlet Dan cut out to head back to his car. The rest of us continued to the right, more closely to the shore, and then up hill to emerge along the edges of some farm fields.

At the pub

I think the route Dan took was either old Blue Marsh Road, which supposedly still has a bridge on it under the water, or a farm lane just after.
The section ahead skirted what is known as the Old Dry Road Farm on the maps. We went up and down, through trees and then back out of trees regularly.
There was an access point off of Highland Road, and we crossed the abandoned Sterner’s Mill Road along the way.

This was yummy

When we were out in the sun, it got absolutely brutal. Lerch and I were the fastest in this section, moving ahead a lot, and Jason was never far behind, if he somehow didn’t sneak up ahead completely.
Somehow in this section, I lost track of Lerch and Jason, and they got up super far ahead of me.
I hung back a bit and talked to Sue and Robin for a while, and the others were behind them. The stretch was probably the toughest to deal with of the entire hike.

View from State Hill Road before the reservoir

The trail moved over the height of the land, then descended further back into an open area that led us much closer to the lake shore and turned to the north.

The reservoir from State Hill today

As we walked just a short distance along the waterfront again, we found Lerch and Jason, who did not waste any time on the opportunity to get into the water.

The group on State Hill

Everyone held off here at this point and went for a much needed dip. Even though there was really no shade at this point, it felt good to be in the water. Temperature was perfect.

Old State Hill Road

After our dip, we continued on through the open expanse, and then entered some more woods.
The trail switched from going north to west, and then we climbed what the map calls Hell Hill. It was a lot more elevation than previous ones, but it wasn’t that bad.
We continued on to the west, along the height of the land for a while. There were old farm roads and trail sections through this bit, and we eventually descended again to another abandoned road, which went right out to the water.

Old State Hill Road

Lerch and I got right up in the front again, and so this was a good opportunity to let others catch up, and we went in at the abandoned road. This finger of the reservoir was narrower, and we figured we could almost wade across it, but we weren’t going to do that.
We could walk a ways out without having to go through muck because of the old road pavement.
We cut through some more woods, and somewhere in this area we picked up an old road.

Old State Hill Rd

We stayed on the road for a good while, which followed the finger of the reservoir, the Spring Creek inlet. It got to be more wooded and creek like as we moved on in. The trail picked up the abandoned Sleepy Hollow Road. It followed it south all the way to where it crossed over the creek itself. Just after the trail goes into the woods on a foot path and follows the Spring Creek back to the north. The foot path had some nice foot bridges along the way.

Old Marsh Road Bridge's last days, going under the reservoir

We headed north and passed the Lamms Mill Road alternate access, and continued on the trail ahead. It followed a farm lane for a bit, and sections of fields.

Lake Border Trail

I can’t remember for sure, but I think we stopped at the creek crossing south of Lamms Mill. There was a long foot bridge that was perfect for taking another dip. The water was colder, and it was running high, so it ended up being very refreshing.
After the break here, we moved on ahead. Somewhere out there we also found an old well hole or cellar pit or something. I can’t remember quite where, it was hard to keep track of.

Along the lake

We continued north to the Peacock Road access, crossed a creek, and then turned right along another finger of the reservoir again. Some of the group opted for another short cut.

Foot bridge

I don’t remember if they cut out when we got to Peacock Road or Lake Road. But whatever the case, a lot of the group cut out and opted to follow a more straight road north to Old Church Road, where we were parked. Jason, Lerch, and I definitely remained on the actual trail and followed it to the east.
There is a side trail called the Skinner Loop Trails I want to do, probably as another part of this series next Summer. Since I’m doing both sides of the lake, I don’t need to do it right away.

Lake view

The trail did weave around a lot on it’s way to Old Church Road, but it was a very pleasant route. I didn’t want to be walking pavement that entire distance. Even so, Jason, Lerch and I still managed to beat some of the others back to the cars.
We powered through this last section, and emerged on Old Church Road and turned right. We then crossed the bridge over the lake, just as the sun was starting to go down. It was absolutely stunning to see the view to the west from here.
We got across, and turned into the recreation area. I went down to the water and took one last dip to cool off and feel cleaner before getting in anyone’s car.

Sunset on Blue Marsh Lake

We then shuttled from here back to the start point, and went into I think it was a Chipotle or something to get something to eat.