Hike Event at Thomas Darling Preserve

With rare plants, ancient waters and a landscape laid down by glaciers, Thomas Darling Preserve – atop Pocono Plateau outside Blakeslee, Pa. – offers 2,500 acres of spruce forest and an array of glacial wetlands perfect for a wintry hike.

On Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017, Carol Hillestad will guide an adventure through the preserve at Two-Mile Run, in a section managed by The Nature Conservancy. Brodhead Watershed Association sponsors the grant-funded free event.

A long boardwalk will lead hikers through the heart of the marsh decorated in sphagnum moss, winterberry, witch hazel, blueberry bushes and groves of slim white birches. The marsh is ringed by one of Pennsylvania’s largest forests of native black spruce.

Back on “solid” but soggy land, animal paths crisscross the boggy ground. Hikers might also see the natives: black bears, river otters, snowshoe hares, and a profusion of nesting and migratory birds.

HIKE EVENT

Join hike leader Carol Hillestad for this moderate hike of 2.2 miles.

WHEN: 1 to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017

WHERE: Meet at Thomas Darling Preserve trailhead. At the intersection of routes 940 and 115 in Blakeslee, go north on Route 115 for one mile. Take Burger Road, on your right, to the trailhead. GPS coordinates for parking lot: 41.115573, -75.590863

COST: Free, but registration is required.

INFORMATION: Call 570 839-1120 or 570 629-2727; email info@brodheadwatershed.org. For information about this and other hikes in the free Get Outdoors Poconos series, go to brodheadwatershed.org/gopoconos. The hike series is administered by Brodhead Watershed Association and supported by a grant from the William Penn Foundation.

Brodhead Watershed Association is a nonprofit environmental organization formed in 1989.  BWA is dedicated to protecting and preserving water resources and  the environment of the Brodhead watershed, and the water quality of the Brodhead, Cherry, Marshalls, McMichael, Paradise and Pocono creeks and their tributaries. BWA assists municipalities, residents, businesses and groups with protecting natural resources through education, workshops, seminars, public programs and stream monitoring. For information: info@brodheadwatershed.org  or 570-839-1120.