Winter Arrives While Hiking In Swatara State Park And Visiting The Iconic Bordner’s Cabin

Even though it is  only 50 miles from my home in Luzerne County, I never visited Swatara State Park in Lebanon County until a few weeks ago. And,  I  never  heard of Bordner’s cabin until I visited the  Park.  I enjoyed my  hike on the Bear  Hole Trail on my first visit so I returned to the Swatara State Park  last weekend.   This time I parked at the Swatara Rail and Sand Siding Trailhead. It was mostly sunny and a seasonably cold 32 degrees when I arrived around 8:30 a.m.  I was the only one at the parking lot.

I began my hike on the trail and received an unpleasant surprise, there was snow on the trail. The snow near my home and the Susquehanna Wetlands had all melted in a warm rainstorm a few days earlier.  I thought it would have melted here too, 50 miles south of where I live.  I don’t like walking in the snow anymore,  which you would know if you have read my recent blog posts. But  it was the first day of Winter, the Solstice was a 10:09 a.m. so I guess snow anywhere in Pennsylvania should be expected this time of year.

The snow wasn’t very deep and more of a nuisance on this part of the trail. I walked through the mostly maple  woodlands along the trail. There were also a lot of  large old black walnut trees which was a sign there were once farms fields along the trail. The 10 mile Swatara Rail Trail was once  a Reading Railroad Company  spur running from Lebanon to Trement and ran along the Union Canal. It was used to haul anthracite coal and was abandoned in the 1960’s and made into a trail in the State Park.

The leafless trees in the woodland were brown and gray. I did find some familiar greens along the trail.  There was a lot of still green leaves on the invasive Japanese honeysuckle  shrubs,

and here were invasive, frost covered  garlic mustard,

and wild garlic plants growing along the wide trail.

There were not many birds active on the trail. I only saw a flock of dark eyed juncos. T he trail is not far from Interstate 81 and you could hear the traffic.

The trail continued for a 1/2 mile when it  took me through a woodland with some hemlock trees.

 The trail split here and I  planned to hike to Bordner’s Cabin because of recommendations from a couple of friends.  So I took the Sand Siding Trail,

over a series of 4 bridges

that spanned what I believed was the old Union Canal,

and the two branches,

 of the Swatara Creek.   It was nice walkover the bridges  on this cold, now Winter,  morning and I  am sure it is  beautiful in the Spring and Summer when the woodlands are green and filled with bird song.

After a short walk on the other side of the bridges I came to the Bear Hole Trail.

I hiked  a portion of this trail on my first visit here. It follows the Old State highway on the eastern banks of the Swatara Creek. I  turned right on the trail,  back toward the trailhead where I parked and  hiked on my last visit.

The trail took me between Swatara Creek and the a ridge  below the Interstate 81 highway.   The forest was denser and older here.  Our  State tree eastern hemlock dominated the first stretch of the trail. Large rhododendrons grew along the ridge.

Flat-branched tree or princess pine club-moss,

shinning club-moss,

intermediate wood ferns,

and Christmas fern grew  beneath the hemlock trees. It was nice seeing so much green in dreary December. 

After about a 1/4 mile I came to a mixed deciduous/pine woodland with red maple, beech, black cherry, basswood, birch, oak and tulip trees.

The ancient tulip trees towered  above the trail.

I also encountered snow. Parts of  the  trail were  covered in snow and was very slippery  from tire tracks that created ice on the trail. As I slowly walked on the trail. Christmas ferns now covered the side of the trail below the ridge. I never saw so many Christmas ferns  in one area before. Rhododendron  thickets were growing above the Christmas ferns. I imaged how beautiful it would being June when the rhododendrons will be blooming.

The wasn’t much bird activity on the trail.  I only saw this downy woodpecker on tree trunk.

After about mile on the Bear Hole trail I came to the iconic Bordner’s Cabin.   I  immediately loved the place.   The  log cabin was situated above the trail along fast flowing Rattling Run and   below Aycrigg’s Falls. It was built in 1939  by alocal teacher Amar Bordner , using oak logs, stone  and other materials from the nearby forest.

I expected the ruins of  an abandoned structure  and was   surprised when I walked inside. It was dark but I could still see the cabin was well built and remained intact.

I was drawn to the picture window and spectacular view of  Rattling Run flowing swiftly, and loudly, down the ridge. Aycrigg’s Falls could be seen on the ridge top.  Mr. Bordner was a lucky man to enjoy this view until his 94th birthday in 1994. In the 1970’s homes in the area  were taken by eminent domain for Swatara State Park. Bordner fought the state  and won. He was awarded a lease in the cabin until his death.

I left the main room and stepped on to the deck along Rattling Run .  Mr. Bordner was influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater  when he built the cabin. His cabin was not a as grand  as Fallingwater , I visited this beautiful structure situated in the Laurel Highlands of southwestern Pennsylvania,   but Mr. Bordner   certainly did a great job in his imitation. I am glad we have this rustic imitation  of Falling water  here in Northeastern Pennsylvania. I still can’t believe I didn’t hear of it until a few weeks ago.

I returned inside and explored the other rooms,

it was dark, but I still saw how well constructed the cabin was and the  beautiful view from all of the rooms.

I reflected on Mr. Bordner’s life in this cabin with his family and the joy he must’ have  had living in the middle of nature.Unfortunately Interstate 81 was  built right above his cabin retreat in the early 1960’s. You could see and hear the tractor trailers passing above the beautiful waterfalls. It is hard to believe I drove so close to this  cabin, and the surrounding beauty of nature many times over the years. I had to travel on Interstate 81 when I attended law school in Washington D.C. I often admir3ed the surrounding mountains and promised I would visit someday. I finally did, 42 years latter.

I took one last look at the cabin. I will return in the summer when the sun is high in the sky and the surrounding woodlands are lush and green. My mind wondered again as I walked away, , thinking about Mr. Bordner and his family, enjoying the seasons in this remote and beautiful cabin he built.  Here is a link to a gallery on my blog web page with more photos of  Bordner’s cabin.  Swatara State Park  Bordner’s Cabin December 21 2025.

It was cold and I was tired and, although I could’ve spent a few more hours at the cabin and exploring the park , I decided to to begin my hike back.

On the way, along the Swatara Creek, I heard the call of a kingfisher,  which surprise me. Apparently , there are  fish in the water, and a kingfisher was looking for breakfast. I waited for a while to try and obtain a photo but was unsuccessful.

The sun rose over the ridge so I walked past the trail to the bridge and  continued on the Bear Hole  Trail.  The trail took me up vthe ridge and here  I met a few folks hiking on the trail as the sun warmed the cold morning air.

The sunshine also illuminated the Christmas ferns along the trail.

After about a  1/4 mile  turned back  and took the Siding Sands Trail,

to the bridge over the Swatara Creek and Union Canal.. The waters of the creek now shining  in the morning sunlight.

As I walked back to  the parking lot at the trailhead I met a couple of people, some walking their dogs.  It was still hard for me to believe I never visited this beautiful park before. I know I only hiked on a few of the many trails here but I know I will be exploring a lot more of Swatara State Park in the future, and it won’t be my last visit to Bordner’s cabin either.   Here is a link to a gallery on my blog web page with more photos from my hike.  Swatara State Park  December 21 2025.

“Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart.” — Victor Hugo