Lakeside Trail, Bald Eagle State Park

Here is a small gallery of photos.

Trouble is, I didn't realize (or remember) how wet that trail could be, and with a recent snow melt and near flooding, well, it was a soggy mess for some parts. Erin didn't care too much for that.

The trail starts out by the boat launch on the south side of Howard, sort of by the entrance to the primitive camping area. There's a small sign near the rest facilities that heads up a short road, then the trail wends its way along the shoreline, toward the primitive camping area.

Numerous runs drain into the lake, making for some sloppy footwork. I didn't mind so much on account of my Altama jungle boots, but Erin had to pick her way carefully along the rocks, and she still got wet feet. There was evidence of some recent flooding, but nothing serious.

The trail runs along the lake for about half of its distance, then it makes a flattened loop, coming out by the primitive camping area via two tunnels that lead under the rail bed. In my opinion, unless you are fishing, the best part of the trail is side south of the railroad.

On this trip, though, we were stopped dead in our tracks by a "trail closed" sign. Apparently, there is an eagle nesting in the area, and the DCNR has determined that people like us would be hazardous. Poppeycock, I say, but I didn't want to risk a run-in with John Law, so we turned around and hiked the soggy trail back to our Jeep.

While there was a sign near the first tunnel, where the trail heads up to the campground, there was nothing indicating a closure near the trailhead. This irked me more than a bit. Oh well...I wonder if it's going to open up, of if they'll close the trail for the sake of one eagle who probably couldn't care less about the hikers below!