Hike #1156; Blue Marsh Lake to Womelsdorf

Hike #1156; Blue Marsh Lake to Womelsdorf

9/3/18 Blue Marsh Lake to Womelsdorf with Daniel Trump, Jennifer Tull, and Ken Zaruni

This next hike would be the thirtieth hike in the 911memorialtrail series I’d been working on for a couple of years now. The route takes us through Blue Marsh Lake and Union Canal because the route on the website is the bicycle route, and some parts don’t allow pedestrians.

Lock 40 remnants before the reservoir flooded, Library of Congress

It’s of particular interest hiking some of these routes that have now been flooded over to make way for reservoirs. There are secrets hidden in those waters never recorded.

South side of Blue Marsh Lake

From Blue Marsh Lake, most of the route would be a road walk because the Union Canal is mostly not on public land. I figured we’d try to follow some parts, and where we couldn’t, it’d be road walk. Because of that, I decided that the first part we would do the rest of Blue Marsh Lake. I had already followed the north side all the way through from one side to the other at Bernville, and I had followed the south side as far as Old Church Road parking area, but skipped one out and back section on a long peninsula.

Blue Marsh Lake lands

I figured this time we would do that peninsula, then follow the edge of the lake to the end, and continue on Union Canal as best we could from there. This way we would get in at least a bit of good trail mileage before having to deal with the road walking.
I made the meeting point to be in the little town of Womelsdorf, one of those lesser known Pennsylvania Dutch country towns in the middle of nowhere. I’d never really heard of it, and don’t even remember seeing it on a map, save for maybe trying to trace the canal.

At Blue Marsh Lake

No one wanted to ride out with me for this one. Some of the regular group members were on the first of the three Blue Marsh Lake hikes and didn’t want to go back out to that area again, even though each of the three hikes were almost entirely a different type of experience.
Fortunately, the three that showed were into it enough.
We shuttled from the start point, a Boyer’s Food Market I think it was, east to Lake Road at Blue Marsh Lake, which is a sort of out of the way parking lot on a dead end road.

Loop trail at Blue Marsh Lake

There were people unloaded horses from a trail when we arrived there. The Lake Road was apparently one of these roads that used to go down and through where the lake is now.
My plan was to take the trail down, following the old road, and then continue out onto the peninsula section.
We did just that, and made a couple of wrong turns initially. I watched the google maps on my phone and found the right spot. The ladies on the horses came to us and said they didn’t know where they were going.

Above is an historic library of congress image showing Lock 41. Much destroyed and now under the waters of Blue Marsh Lake.

At Blue Marsh Lake

I tried to point them in the right direction, and they went some other way anyway. We continued out along the peninsula lands, where the inlet shown on Google as Fox Lake was to the right. This was where the Spring Creek entered the lake.

At Blue Marsh Lake

It was so brutally hot we could barely stand it already. I couldn’t wait until we got to more shaded areas. The trail stayed low along fields for a bit, and then went out to the end of the peninsula area. I was already ready to swim.
I walked off the main trail toward the water, and there was already a guy in a boat fishing there. Rather than bother him, we just walked back and got on the trail. It went up hill, and then followed the same fields we were in before, only at the top. This section was brutally hot, and the humidity showed itself through haze.

Lake Border Trail

We got into some woods at the end of the trail and were able to follow good trail through them, although undulating terrain made us sweat a good bit. There’s a lot more elevation on the south side of the lake than the north side.
We crossed a tributary inlet, and then made our way along more field edges. We just weren’t close enough to the water to be able to get in, and the one inlet had another guy fishing in it, so we skipped that one too.
After a bit of wandering on the trail through merciless fields, we hit another abandoned road.

Lake Border Trail

I believe this road was the old road that went down to the settlement of Mount Pleasant. This was one of the settlements that went under water and was mostly demolished when the lake was built in 1979.
The whole lake was an Army Corps of Engineers project that started after the Flood Protection Act of 1962. It authorized the taking of all of the necessary land through Eminent Domain, and a lot of people have spoken out against what happened. A lot of historic structures were destroyed for it.

Just down stream from the former crossing were Union Canal locks 40 and 41, which are somewhat close to the northern shore of the lake, but nothing of them could be seen when we went through.
We turned right on the old paved road, when the trail actually followed it to the left. I wanted to follow it to the water to see about going in. It took us across an open field and and then into some woods again. Soon, we reached where it went off into the water.

Abandoned road

Unfortunately, there was tons of drift wood and such there, and even though I was willing to go in, no one else thought it looked that inviting. The rivers of the area were all flooding badly recently, and the water levels were still very high. The lake was nice the last time we were out, but this time it had a lot of mud to it.
We turned back the way we came and followed the roadway back to where the trail followed it.
We turned right away from the abandoned road for a bit, and then left up hill again.

Abandoned road

The field sections were brutally hot again. We made our way to Old Church Road, and crossed what must have been the earlier alignment of the road on the way there.
I considered going across the bridge over the lake to head down to Old Church Road picnic area, because I know there is a good swimming spot there, but we decided against it because it was out of the way, and we would probably find something as we headed to the north. Unfortunately, it didn’t come as quickly as we’d hoped it would.

Blue Marsh view

The trail led up hill from Old Church Road on a slope, and then crossed a power line clearing with a good view of the lake. Down below at this point was the former site of Union Canal Lock #39, close to the shore at the far side of the bridge. I never saw remnants of this one either.
The trail continued through woods on the high slopes, and then started to go inland a bit above another creek inlet. We reached some fields, and the trail began to follow a section of a wider utility clearing.

The heat was really bad. We needed to get in the water soon, but we were just too far from it. We continued along the utility clearing across fields of corn, which were all horse corn unfortunately, and too hard to eat.
The trail continued on the open area to the intersection with abandoned Sheidy Road. This road led to the east and used to cross over the Tulpehocken Creek at what was known as Conrad’s Bridge. Something can be seen in the middle on the aerials, and I understand one bridge was left in place.

Utility clearing trail section

We followed the old road to the left and passed a parking area. The trail continued past this on the road where it could be driven for a short distance, and then turned off to the right to head down and cross over the tributary.
We continued along, and the trail passed through more fields cut into tiers in the land that had small lines of trees and clearings back and forth. It had kind of a neat look to it. We descended to where another road used to pass through. This one went down and crossed the Tulpehocken as well.

Abandoned road

This next road used to go down and cross the Tulpehocken Creek also. Just down stream from this bridge site was where Union Canal locks 37 and 38 were.

Old road

That was also the area where we swam on the previous hike, and were able to walk a section of the submerged towpath.
We continued through high fields with some nice countryside views. Down and up over every tributary. At one point I was getting really pretty winded. I was pretty surprised at how high up the trail got. We really worked up a sweat on that one. After we got to the crest of the hill and started heading back down, it got easier.

Lake Border Trail

Ken commented that he thought it was harder going down than it had been going up because it was rather steep. We made our way across another stream inlet and then skirted the reservoir edge heading to the east and north.

Beat bridge

The trail picked up an old road route and continued along the shore of the lake. Down below we could see the water much closer. I watched for a good opportunity to head down, and eventually saw an informal path following the shore. The trail picked up the abandoned route of a road called Stump Lane. Just after we reached this part, we headed down to get in the water.
It was really mucky at first, but I had to get in. After walking a short bit out, it wasn’t as bad.

Lake Border Trail

Everyone got in at this point. It was just too hot not to. The water, despite being in a reservoir, was freezing cold, almost shocking to the system. I understand that this comes out from the streams, but these streams pass through farm land and I would figure should be warmer. There must be some serious springs feeding them.
We spent some time in here, and felt so much better after getting out. The water was still really muddy, even at the inlet, but it didn’t bothe rus that much. It even smelled a bit like the fertilizer.

Lake Border Trail

We made our way along the path and then back to the abandoned road section, which the trail followed out to the upstream end of the lake at North Heidelberg Road.
We turned right across the bridge, and could see to the confluence of the Little Northkill Creek and the Tulpehocken Creek. The Union Canal was on the east side of both of these for a time. We headed over to Bernville Road and turned left to follow that.

The trail

There is a large flood protection berm along the left side of the road into Bernville which covered over a portion of the canal, but I believe the remnants of Lock #35 are still down there. I had wanted to go and try to see it, but we didn’t bother with it when we got out there. I kind of planned to until last minute.
We didn’t have any options for a lunch break other than going to Bernville. It was slightly out of the way, but worth it to go.

Library of Congress image of Lock 39 before the lake

We followed the road in the scorching sun with no shade into the little town of Bernville.
Bernville was founded when three Palatine families from Schoharie NY moved here in 1723.

Lock 38, now under Blue Marsh Lake, Library of Congress

Palatines were a German minority, some of whom came to the New World early on. They set up mills on the Tulpehocken and Northkill Creeks by 1735.
Stephanus Umbenhauer came to the area from Bern, Switzerland in 1737 and purchased lands for farming from Thomas Penn.

Conrad Warehouse building that was located at Conrad's Bridge.

Johann Thomas Umbenhauer, grandson of Stephanus, subdivided these lands in 1819 and named the settlement after the family’s original homeland. The first home on these lands was built in 1820. Prosper continued as Union Canal was opened on the south of town in 1828.

Lock 37 on Union Canal before the reservoir, Library of Congress

The town became a prospering little place with the Union Canal, and Lock 36 on the south side. Anywhere with a lock was a bottleneck where boats would have to wait to lock through, so it was an ideal place for stores and such.

Library of Congress view of Lock 36 before the reservoir

The Union Canal was of course short lived because the railroads took over for it. It closed down in 1884, and there was no railroad to the town to take it’s place.

Library of Congress view of Union Canal Lock; it shows it as 36

The town dwindled from that point and never really grew much further. It was just too far off from industry and remained primarily a farming community.
We went into the Redner’s Quick Shoppe for some food and I got a sub sandwich that was premade. It had a lot on it, so I was quite happy with it. We’d stopped here the previous trip too, and I was also happy that they had the really good Clover Farms chocolate milk.

Flood control berm

There was a sign in the place looking for a “night anchor” to work. I asked them at the counter similar to how I did the previous time if the night anchor would be required to cover sports and/or the weather. They looked at me like I had two heads at first. The guy then realized it was the sign, and he said “yeah, I don’t know why they worded it that way...”.
We hung out outside the place a short bit, then continued along back to Bernville Road.

Northkill Creek

We went a short distance to the right, then turned to the left across a grassy area and climbed to the flood retention berm. We turned left on that and followed it parallel with the downstream Northkill Creek.
After a bit, we headed down to the bottom of the berm to the creek itself. I decided I was just going to walk in the middle of it. It didn’t look as heavy as the Tulpehocken was, and I figured it would be just fine. It ended up having some current to it, but managed to get through. I wanted to walk to where the canal crossed.

Library of Congress view of Lock 35

It was getting to be a pain to walk in because it just started getting so deep as we neared where the canal would have crossed. I originally thought there was some kind of an aqueduct at the site, but I have since seen descriptions that say there was a guard lock and a regular lock with a five foot lift at the site. I never did get to see the lock, and at about the point where the canal crossed, there is a small rock dam thing as per aerials.
I eventually moved off to the shore on the east side of the creek. I made my way up slope slightly to find a good way to walk. There was a trace of an old road in this section parallel to a golf course.

Old Union Canal berm

When I could see the others, I followed a road trace down hill toward where the canal was supposed to be. I was getting really into seeing what was left. I came upon a nearly impenetrable wall of weeds at one point, and it would take too much time to bully on through to the west to see if I could find a crossing remnant. I kept along where I thought the canal should be, and found a definite berm wall, maybe tow path. It’s hard to say if the canal had a basin here. It’s pretty wide. I tried to stay on the berm, but following the route of the canal in this section was murderous. Tons of weeds, briars, and the like, and it was no fun. The others headed up higher to the golf course edge and came out to Koenig Road.

Union Canal along Koenig Road

I had to fight through more of the mess for a while. Eventually I too made my way up to the golf course and then over to Koenig Road. From there, we turned left, down hill to a ninety degree bend. At this point, the Union Canal was directly on the south side of the road where we could follow it west.
There was an opening to the Tulpehocken Creek in this area, and we used the opportunity to get in and cool off again. That bushwhack was brutal. The Tulpehocken was flowing super strong, so it was dangerous to get out too far in it. We’d certainly be swept away easily if not careful.

Lock 35 remnant from Library of Congress

There was some sort of old concrete bridge abutment out in the water where we went in, which looked like maybe it was one of those pipeline bridges at one time, now no longer active. As we walked along the road, there was a man and woman golfing in the course to the right of us. They said hello, but said they were waiting for us to go by because they needed to concentrate. It came across as a very stereotypical golfer mentality.

Old cart bridge

We told them we were just hiking as best we could on the Union Canal. The lady told us that it was right there, into the weeds, and that you used to be able to walk it when that was part of the course. My interest was piqued. Although she wanted us to go initially, I asked for more info. It turns out, the golf course was once larger and had another green in which the Union Canal was included, but when Blue Marsh Lake was built, they took over that section because it could be part of the inundation associated with the lake. Dan and I surmised that the abutments we had seen were actually old golf cart path bridges!

Union Canal

The hike was getting more interesting, even though we were just along the road. To the left of us, we saw where there was definitely a ditch the canal would have been in at one time.
Just beyond, Dan noted first a spot that might have been a lock site. Indeed, this was what was left of Lock #35. There was no obvious lock wall, but now that I see the maps from Library of Congress, it was without a doubt the site.
We continued walking a bit more, and took to a path on the left out at a bend in the Tulpehocken.

Library of Congress view of Lock 35

It looked to me like a more likely lock site, and there were possible remnants. It was more than likely just part of the higher canal towpath in the area in retrospect.

Looking down at the Tulpehocken and canal route

The weeds were too dense for us to even try to follow it at this point. We returned to Koenig Road and followed it steeply up to Christmas Village Road. I figured we would have to just walk roads from here pretty much the entire remainder of the hike. Had the water level been lower, we could have taken to the Tulpehocken and maybe followed more of it, but that wasn’t going to work in these conditions. Still, we turned briefly to the left, south, because I just wanted to see if there was anything clear on the old canal route.

Union Canal

I couldn’t see much from the bridge, but I was too curious not to look a little closer. I told the others to wait while I headed down below the bridge to get a look at the canal.

Union Canal

It was tough coming down. I slipped and cut the back of my leg kind of bad on the way down, but was okay to continue.
When I got just beyond the bridge, I was delighted to see the watered canal prism and identifiable towpath. I had to walk it, if only for a little bit.
After a bit, I knew I couldn’t stop. I called Dan up an told him that they should follow us. This was too cool not to see. It was hard walking in the weeds, but easier than it would have been if it hadn’t flooded recently, because they were knocked down.

Union Canal towpath

I was able to stay on the towpath a good while, but the worst part in addition to the briars was the mud. It was at times really slippery with a drop off to the creek, and I wouldn’t want to fall in and get swept away. I was still able to continue following it better than anticipated.
The others were pretty far behind me, but this was one of those moments when I was getting overly excited and couldn’t help but keep going. Also, the bugs were getting really bad and I couldn’t sit still for too long or I’d be bit up.

Union Canal

It seemed like an eternity we were on this section, and I eventually waited up for everyone. I had a couple of purges on the towpath where I had to go down and up, and at one more substantial stream there was no choice but to go around. It was getting really rough to follow. The only good way I suppose of seeing the canal remnants through here would be by boat. Maybe we’ll have to take up that initiative one of these days.
When the others caught up, they had already switched from the towpath to berm slope.

Union Canal

I remained on the towpath side only a bit and decided to join them, but they started heading up hill too farm, mistaking a creek cut for the canal, which actually stays right on the edge of the creek. Had we tried to continue on it, we might have been able to get through, but it would have taken a long time. We didn’t make it nearly as far as I thought.
We headed up hill and made it to the rear of the Christ Little Tulpehocken Church.

Union Canal

Church Road comes down close to the church, away from Christmas Village Road for a bit. We got on that, and examined from afar the route of the canal below us, figuring on whether we could get back down to it or not. We probably could have, but the fields on the way to it were in plain view of the pastor’s house, so I decided against it.
We had already seen a good amount more of the canal than I had anticipated we would anyway. We followed Church Road instead back to Christmas Village Road.

Farm land view

We turned left on the road, and passed what Dan said was the home of the family that owns the Christmas Village, which is a big deal thing in the area to visit annually.

Christmas Village ROad

The house and farm likely own a good long portion of the Union Canal. I wonder if we could ever get permission to walk the segment if we asked. One day we will have to try.
The road had a narrow shoulder, but we continued over the crest of a hill, and then got on the edge of the field slightly above the road for a safer area to walk. Ahead of us, the Christmas Village itself came into clear view. Koziar’s Christmas Village has become quite the local landmark, and it has been so for over seventy years.

View on the road

The story of Koziar’s Christmas Village starts back in 1946 when William M. Koziar started decorating his home because his family, a wife and four children, got so much joy out of it.
It didn’t take long before neighbors and passersby started to notice the extra effort put into the decorating of the home, and it soon became known as “The Christmas House”. Mr. Koziar continued to add more lights and decorations not only toe the house, but the property including the barn, the lake, and other structures.

Koziar's Christmas Village

It became quite a scene for photographers, and they were allowed to come onto the property for a closer look. This was the start of Koziar’s Christmas Village.

Along Christmas Village ROad

The site is now one of the top ten most visited places in Pennsylvania, which is amazing considering it is only open from November through Christmas, and was rated through Display World Magazine to be the best outdoor Christmas display in the world.
We continued down hill with the site in view. A car went by us and pulled off ahead. I thought it might be the owners to talk to us about walking on the edge of the field instead of on the road, but it looked like just a lost person instead.

Road view

We headed down past part of the property, and reached the left turn onto Grand View Road. The dirt road looked like it was more of a driveway than a road, which the manicured lands on the edges of it, and the unpaved surface.
We continued down past the historic home known for the displays, and started looking for the Union Canal remnants.
To the left, it was obvious where it had come out. There was a path on it at first, and no trespassing signs of course. This is where we would have come out.

Lock #34

To the right, the canal was just a disturbance in the yard, but this was in fact the site of Lock #34, with no lock walls apparent on it. The canal goes into a line of trees beyond.

Library of Congress view of Lock 34

Dan wanted to go out and try to walk it from here, but I was not thinking it would be a good idea. It was too exposed, and it goes right past a house a bit beyond.

Union Canal at Koziar's

If the Tulpehocken had been running lower, we would have tried to follow it, and then cut out to Station Road prior to the next house by wading across, but that of course was not an option with how high it was running.

Tulpehocken bridge

We walked ahead on the road a litle more to a lovely old pony truss bridge built in 1889 over the Tulpehocken. It was rusty and had seen better days, but still holding strong.

Tulpehocken at Grand View

There were people pulling out from the other side, and a good access to the creek, so we all took the opportunity to go in and cool down again. It was much needed. Some guys went by in kayaks while we were there, and said this was the best time to do it.
From here, we had the choice of continuing on this road, then continue to Charming Forge. This would lead us back to the canal and maybe let us see one bit we wouldn’t see otherwise, but we would see a lot more if we went to Christmas Village Road further. I opted for that.

Bridge on Grand View Rd

We headed back past the village and further along the road heading west. We had to go up and over a bit of a hill, then descended on the other side a bit.

Bridge on Grand View Rd

In a little while, we could see the Union Canal coming back to closer to the road on the left of us. At this bend was the site of Lock #32. Lock 33 was out next to the private home, far off where we were going to be. The home might even be the lock tender’s house.

Library of Congress view of Lock 32 wall

We couldn’t see very much of Lock 32, just a bunch of weeds. I couldn’t find any photos anywhere, including Library of Congress, showing even what’s left of Lock 33.

Lock 32 shed, toll house?

Library of COngress did include an old shed that may have dated back to canal days as some sort of toll house it said, which would be interesting. It appears as though it’s probably gone.

Site of Lock 32

We continued walking along the road, which was nice because the canal was right beside us. The road was lightly used in this section, so it made for a really nice walking experience.
We continued to the intersection with Station Road, where I saw some stone remnants below that I thought might be another lock, but it was not. The next lock was up ahead. We went to the bridge and took a dip in the water again, because it was still brutally hot. Across the bridge, there was a beautiful old mill building.

J. D. Richards' Grist Mill

The old Berks County map shows that this was the J. D. Richards Grist Mill. It has a new roof on it today, but the windows are sitting funny in their frames from sagging stone.
We moved on from here along Christmas Village Road. The canal remained immediately to the left.
We continued past the intersection with Batdorf Road and Host Church Road.

Lock #31 today

Between these two intersections was the site of Lock #31. We actually recognized this one as being a lock pretty obviously, even though it had been badly silted in.

Library of Congress view of Lock 31 remnant

The bits of wall were still visible even from the road. There was a little settlement here, unsure of the name for sure, but I think it was Cross Keys because the old Cross Keys Tavern was located there, and it is probably the old stone building we saw to the side.

Historic tavern?

We continued walking on the road ahead from here, with the former Union Canal right beside us. A pond was just beyond the lock site, in the former canal. Maybe a former basin.

Library of Congress view of lock wall at 31

We continued along the road, and the canal was usually rather obvious. Some corn was planted in it at one point, and then just after that, it was clear. The entire former canal was mowed and easy to walk just along side of the road. It didn’t say it was a trail, but there were no signs saying to stay off of it, so we walked that.

Union Canal

The towpath and the prism were sort of molded into each other through erosion, but it was still very cool to be able to get on a portion of it for a bit.

Wow...and this is fourteen ton rated!!!

We emerged at a bridge crossing. Krick’s Mill Road went across the Tulpehocken at this point, and would have also crossed the Union Canal. We walked across and had a look at the bridge on the other side, and I was shocked to see that the thing was rated for eighteen tons!

Union Canal toward Lock 30

Twenty seven tons if it’s a combine!
The I-beams on the sides were completely rusted through where you could see the other side. The middle ones weren’t as bad as the sides, but still, very bad.
We took a little break here and looked at the canal upstream. Just within sight, but in the weeds, was the former site of Lock #30. I could find no photos depicting this one. The canal was abandoned so early that photos of these locks in operation are few and far between. Even after abandonment is rare.

Psshhh eighteen tons...

Rather than follow Krick’s Mill Road, we opted to follow Christmas Village Road further on. We would get to see more by heading down Forge Road next from Christmas Village Rd.

Forge Road

We walked the road to the east a bit, and the first farm above where Lock 30 would have been was lovely, with a log cabin section and an old German style stone section.
The Union Canal’s Lock #29 was somewhere in the farm land to the east of us, and I’m unsure of remnants. Some of the canal prism appears intact via aerials, and some seems to be filled in. As it moves further south, Lock #28 appears to be in good shape as per the aerials, because I can see it, and Lock #27 could be good, just a bit upstream from Charming Forge, our next point of interest.

Charming Forge Mansion

Charming Forge was a working site long before the Union Canal came into existence. We walked down Forge Road from Christmas Village Road through lovely farmlands, and made a left on Charming Forge Road, and knew we were upon something important before seeing any historic markers.

The old forge is to the right, with the mansion beyond to left

Charming Forge was originally called Tulpehocken Eisenhammer, built in 1749 by George Nikoll and Michael Miller. “Baron” Henry William Stiegel bought a half interest in the site in 1763 and re-dubbed it Charming Forge after the pleasant look of the locale. He upgraded the forge operation to being able to produce three hundred tons annually.
Iron straight out of furnaces could not easily be molded, so the forges would make it into something that could be worked by a blacksmith. Prior to that it was brittle and unmalleable.
Around 1780, Goerge Ege purchased the site and added a slitting mill, which among other things could produce nails. He built the large stately stone mansion we saw first on the west side of the road, and tasked Hession soldiers captured during the Revolutionary War to dig a 250 foot long channel through solid rock to provide water for the slitting mill.
Rolling mills began replacing forges for faster production of materials around 1850, but the Charming Forge remained in operation pretty much until the Union Canal went out in 1887.

Old boarding house

We crossed over the aforementioned trench dug by Hessians at the low point in the road, and there was an historic marker telling the history of the site, placed in 1926.
At the intersection with Tulpehocken Forge Road, where we continued straight on the same, the old forge ruins were a topless stone wall with windows still in place used by a private land owner as a sort of garden sitting area, and quite a nice one. I wished they’d been out to talk to us about the history of it all.
To the right, there was an old brick home that had been used as a boarding house, built in the 1790s, but served the canal through it’s existence. An addition was added in 1860.

Old buildings at Charming Forge

More old buildings lined the edge of the road ahead. They were small homes, I assume, probably built for workers at the forge or on the canal. Two were on the left, one on the right. Maybe at one time there might have been more.
We walked down hill to where the road crossed over the Tulpehocken. Here, we could see where I thought the Union Canal crossed. It can be a confusing spot, because the canal behind the boarding house was actually further west of where we crossed it because of the way the road turned, and because of how the river and canal turned. To our left at the crossing was eastbound, to the right was west.

Old dam site

There was a huge mill pond build into the Tulpehocken in this spot by the crossing, and dam abutments were still in place. It turned out the canal must have utilized the trench dug by the Hessions, or gone right next to it, because it crossed at that intersection of Tulpehocken Forge Road and Charming Forge Road as per the historic maps. It continued south to Lock #26, which from aerial images looks like it might be in reasonable shape. We continued south on Tulpehocken Forge Road through more farms to the intersection with North Water Street where we turned right. It crossed a tributary to the Tulpehocken, and there was a good spot to take a dip on the right. I couldn’t believe I was the only one that wanted to get in. I felt much better for the final stretch afterwards.

Roadside grave

We passed by a farm with a grave site directly across the street, which was unlike others I had seen before, kind of a weird place.
We could se the Union Canal across the Tulpehocken parallel with us. The road moved away from the creek and canal through more farms to the south.
Somewhere in there, Lock #25 is on private farm land, and I can see some of the remnants on the aerial images, so some of that at least is in good repair. A good bit of the canal, as I can see, is watered in this secluded private land section.

Typical Pennsylvania signage

We headed along Water Street past a sewage treatment facility. I didn’t want to go in any more water near there, and up stream from that point on a tributary of the Tulpehocken was flooded over and dispersed through the woods pretty heavily. I was planning to turn right through a development, but then there were no trespassing signs so I figured we’d skip it. We walked up hill through grass and came out onto Rt 422, Conrad Weiser Highway into the town of Womelsdorf.
The town was founded in 1762 by John Womelsdorf and named Middletown for it’s location directly between Lebanon and Reading. It was named for it’s founder fifty years later.

Butterfly at the end

We simply walked back to the store where we’d met. On my next trip, I’ll have a closer look at the town of Womelsdorf and it’s history with the downtown. For this time, it was hot and gross and we were happy to be finished.
It looks like we’ll at least be able to get up close to see the remnants of Locks 24, 23, and 22.
An historic Berks County map showing them can be seen here: https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3823bm.gla00029/?sp=35&r=0.691,0.324,0.29,0.132,0
This hike was a great one for seeing historic remnants, and I look forward to seeing more of this historic route on the upcoming trips. Hopefully interest remains strong.

Ham