Our next Top Down adventure in the Miata was a few days at and around Raystown Lake in Pennsylvania. Raystown is the largest lake in PA and about a 2 hour drive from Hagerstown Md. We have found that if you go to places at times other than Friday and Saturday the crowds are less and it is easier to get around. We did our trip over 3 days, Sunday thru Tuesday in July 2021.
We planned on doing several things while there along with looking at the lake area for future family trips and getaways. We stayed at the Lake Raystown Resort. They have several different options including small to medium cabins and Yurts. There is a minimum nights to stay in these so we stayed at the Lodge which is a group of 3 buildings with Hotel style rooms. You can rent pontoon boats and jet skis for the day from the resort but this trip we did not do that. If you have a boat they rented slips both short term and long term. The resort and accommodations were very good. We drove up on a Sunday morning stopping at Bedford Village on the way. This is a planned 18th century historic replica of a town. They have relocated old cabins, stores and other buildings to this site. There are interrupters on site that will give demonstrations, talks, tours and answer questions. The crowd was light so we easily made our way around the village. It was a step back in time for about 2 hours. We would recommend that if you are in the area and have never been there, it is worth the stop.
The rest of the day we made our way to Lake Raystown Resort. The weather was a little hot but not to bad with the AC on and the top down. Of course we set the GPS to avoid highways and had a great ride through the country and mountains. When we arrived we mainly drove around the resort to explore seeing the different types of cabins and alot of RV camping. Most of the cabins and RV spots were full however there was little traffic and we could explore easily.
The next day we traveled about 90 minutes to Penn caverns. The route we took went through a valley of farm land. We went by mile after mile of corn, soybean and other things we did not know what they were. The size and qty of farms was fascinating. We speculate that they are there to support the Dairy farmers that supply milk to Hershey, there are also several canning companies in this area of Pennsylvania that may get produce from here.
We did not know exactly what to expect at Penn caverns but it turned out to be the highlight of the weekend. The Cavern tour was by boat. The Boat captain and tour guide gave a great 60 minute tour of the caverns.
They also had an animal safari that is done by Bus. The 90 minute tour took you past about a dozen different types of animals including Bison, Deer, Black Bear, Elk, Coyote, Fox and others. We did get to see a new born bison that was born within 2 hours of our tour. The bus made several stops so the tour guide could get off the bus and get the animals to come out so we could see them. We also got off the bus at one point to see a couple different animals.
We were lucky that an antique car tour was passing through and stopped at Penn Caverns. We took a few moments to look at the 30+ cars that were parked in the lot. We highly recommend Penn Caverns if you are in the area. Cost was a little high but the facility and all the tours were very nice. We ended up spending about 4 hours here in total.
On the way back toward the Lodge we stopped at Brookmere Winery for a tasting and to purchase some wine. They had a lot of good options so if passing by with the top down stop by. Tasting was also free. Definite plus.
Our next stop was Trough Creek State park. We took a short hike on the Balanced Rock trail. It really went to a large rock that seemed to be balanced on the top of the hill. It looked like it could fall at any time, however the sign says it has been this way for a few thousand years. After the balanced rock and trail we found a gravel road that went through the state park and forest. For about 45 minutes on this road we looked for wildlife, mainly hoping to see a bear, but we did not. We saw a deer and a squirrel but that is about it. In the 45 minutes only saw 2 other cars.
On Tuesday we checked out of the hotel and headed to Fort Roberdeau. It is a county run park with a remake of the Revolutionary fort that sat in the same spot around 1776. the fort was approved by George Washington to mine lead for the war effort. It was not that successful of an effort due to the lack of miners available at the fort and other issues. We were there when the fort opened and had a great walk through the fort and time with the Fort interpreter afterward with a lot of questions. We thought this was worth the trip and would recommend it.
We did have a secondary agenda going to this lake. we are looking for places with cabins or houses to rent for a family weekend gathering that we try to do each year. Unfortunately the cabins at the resort seemed to small to be really comfortable. The website says they sleep up to 8 but based on the size outside it would be a tight fit for that many.
One complaint we had was the lack of a variety of restaurants around. We did find Woody’s Bar-B-Q which was very good. After the fort, the interpreter at the fort recommended Spruce Creek Tavern which was also good. It just seemed that the options were limited. Most of the land on the lake at Raystown is owned by the Army Corp of Engineers, so there are virtually no private homes on the lake. The only real options to have lodging on the lake is the resort. There are other options close to the lake.
We both really enjoyed the couple days around Raystown Lake. There are more things to do at and around the lake so I can foresee another trip in the future to do the things we missed.
