Denver Borough State Game Lands Tract

Pennsylvania is under a Covid-19 "Stay at Home" order, which still permits outings for exercise.  We're starting to get some cabin fever after working on some computer projects and discussing a variety of issues that the coronavirus lockdown raises for us -- so we decided to get our exercise by exploring our neighborhood on foot.  Little did we know that, at the far point of our hike, this cheeky baroque figure would be what we would find:

But we get ahead of ourselves.

Google Maps shows two green areas within about 2.5 miles of our campground.  One is labeled "Berks County Park," and the other is labeled "State Game Lands 274."  We decided we would hike over to check both out to see whether they offered further hiking opportunities.

Here is our "shelter in place" campground home for the foreseeable future.  We dressed appropriately for the brisk, sunny weather and headed off out into the rural Lancaster County countryside:

Rounding our campground road out to Swartzville Road, we admired a cherry tree by the pond at the corner of our campground which is blossoming out:

This area maintains a rural character, with numerous farmhouses and barns and large tracts of open land.  Here, one property boasts a blooming forsythia:

Turning up Vera Cruz Road, we had to admire this old log cabin with bunches of bright yellow daffodils at its foot:

Just a short way up Vera Cruz Road, we chanced upon the "Golden Gateway," a name for the large facility of Delaware Valley Golden Retriever Rescue. 

It is a nonprofit organization that provides new beginnings for displaced Golden Retrievers and Goldendoodles and has been doing so for over 20 years. Some dogs come into the program as puppy mill survivors – dogs no longer useful for breeding or puppies that can’t be sold. Other dogs arrive having been neglected or abused with a deep-seated fear of humans. The Center also get dogs from families that can no longer keep them for whatever reason. The Center's philosophy is that every dog deserves a second chance, and the Center's staff work to provide that through the highest quality veterinary care and educated rehabilitation.

Perhaps a mile more up the hill, we came to an open field with a view upslope to the State Game Lands.  We were crossing the county border from Lancaster into Berks County:

The further we walked up into the hills, the more farmland and woods we encountered, including this bucolic scene looking northeastward toward our destination:

About 2.5 miles into our hike, we came to the entrance to State Game Lands 274:

Now this is more like it -- real trail!

The trail through the State Game Lands is rarely used, with deadfall across the trail and dead leaves occasionally obscuring the path.  As we got deeper into the woodland, we chanced upon this old spring enclosure, which has long since been abandoned and then damaged by a fallen tree.  The spring itself is still active:

Our trail crossed several streams.  While there was evidence that some old wooden bridges crossed the streams in places, they have long since disappeared, and we had to find spots to hop across on rocks and dead tree limbs:

Kathy spotted this gnarly old vine that killed its host years ago, but not before growing to be as thick as a trunk and contorted in its wrap around the tree:

The trail disappeared, and we were forced to bushwhack our way upslope back to the road in order to reach the little portion of the State Game Lands that was, at least formerly, known as "Berks County Park."  The parking lot has since been turned into a borrow stash for rock and gravel by the roads department.  All that is left of the old trailhead is a vague path into the trees and a birdhouse at the entrance:

This was our destination, so we stopped for a rest and ate our picnic lunch:

As we packed our bags to hike home, we looked more closely at the State Game Lands sign in the old parking lot.  This was when we discovered that cheeky baroque figure holding his pack and smiling down at us, as if to say, "Welcome, explorers, you have discovered a magical land of hiking trails that has been lost to time."

We considered the implications of lost trails as we returned home, for a total hike of 7.3 miles.  We're not sure what those implications were, but we agreed that we certainly had had an adventure.

Stay safe and recreate while you isolate!