Memories Of My First Camping Trip And A New Baby Brother On A Long Overdue Visit To Hickory Run State Park

Hickory Run State Park is one of five State Parks located within 15 miles, as the crow flies, from my home in the Green Ridge section of Hazle Township in Luzerne County. I am blessed to  live and grow up near these parks but, being honest, I did not spend a lot of time in the parks as a child. We were poor and picnics were usually hot dogs, potato salad , homemade pie, marshmallows and watermelon in our backyard. My parks were the woods that surrounded my home, both abandoned anthracite coal  strip mines and second growth forest that were timbered a 100 years before I was born.

In  two  previous blogs, before my last minute adventure to Greenland,   I wrote about hikes in  Locust Lake and Tuscarora State Parks and recalled the  first times I visited  these two  parks. Hickory Run State Park was the first  State Park I visited.  I was 10 years old.  It was a big day in  my young life for two reasons.  It was the  my first time  I was going  camping, with my brother John, and  Transfiguration Parish  Cub Scout Pack 22.    It’s also the day my baby brother Mike was born,  August 9 1968. It’s hard to believe it was 57 years ago on this day . I had so many wonderful memories from that weekend  camping trip. The weather was cool but beautiful.  We had a  large campfire and a pancake eating contest.   The memories of the  smell of the campfire,  the conifer forest, and the  tent, the  hikes to Boulder Field,  the Lehigh River the lake  and a church services at the small sunlit chapel  seem like they happened last week not a half century ago.   It was a wonderful weekend and when we arrived home we had a new baby brother. A bundle of joy, and smelly diapers. Mike grew up to became a great dad and fisherman. This is one of his bigger catches.  Sorry Mike, it’s the only photo I could find. Happy Birthday!!!

So on Saturday I took the 1/2 drive to Hickory Run State Park , located in Kidder Township in Carbon  County, and parked at the trail head for the Shades of Death Trail. This trail follows the Sand Spring Run  creek. It  got its name from the the thick forest of large hemlock and white pine trees, the many swamps and rocky soil  the first European explorers  found when they arrived. There were no known  Native American  permanent  settlements in this  area.   Settlers arrived to timber the large trees  after the Lehigh Canal reached nearby White Haven in 1829.

It was sunny and cool when I began my hike along the fast flowing Sand Sprung Run  stream. Once there were many saw mills along the creek.

The trail follows the stream under many ancient hemlock and white pines trees that escaped the axe of the lumbermen.

The morning sun filtered through the trees creating a magical scene along the stream.

The trail was winding and covered in roots and rocks.

It took me through thick groves of rhododendrons.

I was a few weeks too late to see them bloom. I will have to hike this trail next year, it is probably spectacular when they are in full bloom.

The trail left Sand Spring and trawled along the Route 534 a short distance,

before winding back down to the stream.

There was little wildlife along the trail. I saw no squirrels, deer, rabbits or even chipmunks. There were only a few birds, I heard a few red-eyed vireo high in the tree tops, and only saw a few American robins.

The trail was a bit difficult to walk on because of the rocks and roots but I enjoyed it, and imagined the difficulty the first explorers and settlers mush have had when they first visited entered the forest.

The trail took me to a beautiful waterfall, which I soon learned was man made. It was the  overflow from the Stametz Dam, built for one of the sawmills on the creek before 1875.  The unregulated cutting of the forest resulted in floods and catastrophic fires. The land was devastated, and remained that way until the arrival of General Harry Trexler and his vision in 1918. More on General Trexler later in my blog.

The rugged and winding trail continued  on the ridge above their stream,

taking me between two large boulders.

Near here,

I heard and saw a pair of pileated woodpeckers  but they were high in the tree tops and I couldn’t get any photos.  I was able to get a photo of a hairy woodpecker.

I passed a few more small waterfalls,

and hiked through some more groves of rhododendrons, before coming to a small pond near the camping area.

I walked down a pine needle covered bank to the pond where I saw this American bullfrog on one of the lily pads on the pond , and this

chipping sparrow along the shore.

Along the lake I saw the first wildflowers on my hike, pretty St. John Wort flowers,

and moth mullein flowers .

I also met a few folks from the campground exploring the pond and trails.  The Shades of Death Trail ends here,and I followed the wider Beach Trail to Sand Spring Lake. There were more beech and oak trees here, a  more suitable habitat for wildlife, 

and here I saw a few song birds along the trail including this black and white warbler.

a Canada warbler

and a few blue gray gnatcatchers.

I came to Sand Spring Lake and  I don’t recall if we swam in it when we camped, I am guessing we didn’t or I would remember it. I do remember swimming here a few times in high school and college and also on a few family picnics with my sister and her family. I remember catching tadpoles with my nephews.

 

I was surprised that there were only as few people on the beach and swimming in the lake on this beautiful Sunday morning. I walked past the modern bathing facilities and small food store, past a volley ball beach.

There were more wildflowers blooming in the open fields near the beach including spotted knapweed,

oxeye daisies ,

common mullein

and yarrow. Only yarrow is native to Pennsylvania.

I came  to the Gamewire Trail which  begins near a  disc golf course,

and soon crosses on a new bridge over Sand Spring Run. I learned it was named the Gamewire Trail since this was the area General Trexler, the man who purchased the large tracts of timbered woodlands beginning in 1918,  had a large game preserve.

It was General Trexler desire to-restore and preserve the forest and create a park where ordinary working people could enjoy the beauty of nature.He died, unexpectedly, in a car accident, but his  dream was fulfilled and his land became Hickory Run State Park in 1945. It was near here I believe our Cub Scout camped on this day 57 years ago.

I walked on the Gamewire Trail for about about a 1/4 mile reflecting on the wonderful memories of my first time sleeping in these woods. I.remember the long drive to Hickory Run  in the back of a covered pick up truck on newly open interstate 80. I recalled the smell of the musty tent we set up, the rocks we lined around our tent to keep out snakes and the large campfire were we had a great meal and then told  stories.  The next day we walked down to the Lehigh River and explored Boulder  Field. On Sunday  I remember the service in a small chapel with the August sun shining through the windows.  It was a great experience which I have kept alive in my memory for over 1/2 a century. And, I remember the ride home being told by our friend Bernie’s parents that we had a baby brother. We knew mom was having a baby when we left but didn’t know if it was a boy or girl, and to be honest, we didn’t think a lot about it during the excitement of our camping trip. However we were glad to meet our new baby brother and he has provided me with 57 years of wonderful memories.

The Gamewire Trail took me across Route 534 again and I walked into one of the campgrounds in the park.  The smell of the campfires permeated the air invoking more memories of my first campfire here in Hickory Run and the many hundreds or maybe thousands  that followed. I love campfires. I also enjoyed the music, the voices the laughter of folks ranging from young toddlers to senior citizens in their 80’s.

After walking through the camping area I realized this was a trailer campsite,

I followed  a dirt road to another tent  camping area,

and to the recently built Visitor Center. I stopped in the  crowded Visitor Center and spoke with one of the rangers about the park in the 1960’s when I first visited.  He agreed that we probably camped in the group camp site I had walked past.

I quickly looked over  the informative exhibits about the park.

I left the  Visitor Center  and walked past a few wildflower gardens where I found  these native purple cone flower being visited by some bumblebees.

I walked past the camp amphitheater  where I reflected on the many folks who sat their on a  moonlit evening.

I then continued my hike, first through another camping area. There were a lot of families camping but also a few open campsites. I then followed  the Sand Spring Run Trail.

I had to cross the stream over a  bridge made of wet rocks. In my younger days I would have ran across these rocks a dozen times without slipping. Not anymore, these old bones and muscles are  okay for endurance but not agility.  I slowly crossed the stream  and began my hike on the trail.

This trail first took me through more groves of rhododendrons,

then  changed to  mountain laurels.

It was very quiet on this trail. No sounds at all, no birds, insects or traffic. It was a very peaceful hike up  a slight ridge.

There were no wildflowers on the trail but I found a few painted bolete and

russula. mushrooms. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with some more photos of the plants, animals  the museum  on my 5 mile hike. Hickory Run State Park  Flora, fauna and museum.  August 9 2025.

The trail  descended the ridge and entered a mixed beech, oak and pine woodland before ending on Highway 534.  The parking lots along the highway were now filled with cars as more folks came out to enjoy the  some of the over 40 miles of trails in Hickory Run State park. I walked about a 1/2 mile and finished my hike. I didn’t see much wildlife on my  5 mile hike but I loved the natural beauty of the first State Park I visited and the memories of that first visit over a 1/2 century ago. I hope to return again soon and often.  Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with some more photos of the plants, animals  the museum  on my 5 mile hike. Hickory Run State Park   August 9 2025.

“Don’t you wish you could take a single childhood memory and blow it up into a bubble and live inside it forever?”  Sarah Addison Allen

“We hold the places of our youth unchanged in our minds and stay secretly young that way.” ― Andrei Codrescu

“If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older.”  Tom Stoppard

The forest spoke to my soul in a language I already knew; a distant lullaby from the womb of peace & solitude.   Angie Welland Crosby