July 31 - August 3. Orginally wanted to stay at Cherry Springs State Park for the Astronomy and known for the darkest place at night on the East Coast. However, Cherry Springs is extremely primitive with only non-flush toilets. So, we planned to camp only 20 minutes away at Ole Bull State Park and we were excited that Cherry Springs was having a Woodsmen Show that weekend so we planned to visit.
Tip: Coming from South East PA navigation systems will try to bring you on back roads off of 120 and 144. We do not recommend especially if you are pulling a trailer. The trip for us was very long (coming from Reading, PA area) and as we neared the end of our journey (or so we thought) our navigation system directed us onto a small dirt road. We were white knuckled driving with our trailer in tow and soon knew we would not make it much further with a steep embankment to one side of us along with rough and mountainess terrain. Luckily we found a spot to turn around and after asking for directions we were 45 minutes behind schedule. So from one camper to another, keep to the main roads. Our friends who were joining us at Ole Bull all had the same problem with their navigation systems and all found themselves turning around on that dirt road. One family who did not have a trailer did drive it completely with a horrifying tale of the road getting much worse with a steep drop at the end. And with no cell phone service we couldn't warn each other.
Tip: Ole Bull is pronounced (Oley Bull) only learned after several stops of asking directions from the locals.
Ole Bull is a small campground with sites that are wide but not deep. So if you have campers behind you they may feel too close. The bathrooms are very clean with flush toilets and hot showers. The kids enjoyed the swimming area however it did not compare to some other state park "beaches". The water was extremely cold and the sand area was small. We also had a difficult time with the flies as we sat to watch the kids swim. We hiked the lower loop trail that was about 3 miles. At times I thought it was a loose definition of a trail. Our youngest experienced hiker age 5 was able to complete the journey however I wouldn't go much younger than that. The trail was narrow and on the side of a mountain. The kids found some bear scat, lots of deer tracks and a salamander. The fishing at the campground was fun for us amatures. But even our friend who is an avid fisherman enjoyed his catch of a Rainbow Trout which we all go to sample after it was cleaned and cooked over the fire and it was delicious.
Tip: For those with snowmobiles the campground had trails designated.
Cherry Springs Woodsmen Festival: We planned to spend the entire Saturday at the festival but after 3 hours are kids had enough. If we didn't have small children with us the festival would have been more enjoyable. We watched some of the competitions. The Ax Throw, Springboard and chainsaw. We also watched with amazement masterpiece carving.
Tip: Arrive early, bring your own chairs and stake out a spot at the main arena. We squeezed in an area with our chairs and had a difficult time viewing much of the competitions. We also brought our own food and drink with plans to eat a picnic lunch and then buy dinner. Unfortunately we did not make it to dinner at the festival (our kids had enough). There were some shaded areas with picnic benches were we placed our lunch coolers and didn't have to carry around our stuff.
As we left the festival we geocached back to the campground. We found one at Cherry Springs another along the drive back to Ole Bull and our third at Ole Bull.
Tip: Woolrich, PA isn't too far away especially if its on your way home. The orginal Woolrich store is worth the trip. Just a couple items are special buys but the rest of the store is expensive. Has both clothing and home items. Fun to see.
Happy Camping,
The Stefanelli Family
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