Vagabond photographer in an Alto trailer
It was not a promising start to my stay in Holland. I was trying to beat the rainstorm that I could see on the radar, but I didn’t quite make it. Just as I entered the city limits, with a mere eight miles to go, the heavens opened up. And stayed open till just *after* I unhitched and set up at my new campsite.
Timing is everything in camping and I definitely missed it this time around. But not to worry…
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When I made some changes in my early summer plans, Delaware State Park popped up as a nice bolthole of a place to go for a few nights. That it was close to Columbus, Ohio, where I know a few people I hadn’t seen in a long while added points in its favor. There was also a lake but it wasn’t till I showed up that I realized it was a big lake, surrounded by trails that provided different views, like this one.
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Ohiopyle is kind of in the middle of nowhere when you look at it on a map. But, and this is huge, it is a watersports paradise for adventure junkies, from kayaks to big rubber boats running the rapids. And then there is the Great Allegany Passage (GAP) from Pittsburgh to Washington, full of bikers of all levels. When I drove through on a Sunday, the town was wall-to-wall people and traffic. Never would I imagine this peaceful sight from my first experience of the place!
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A few years ago, I spent a night at Laurel Hill and decided it was worth a longer stay at some point. When I had to do some last minute rearranging of my June schedule to deal with some truck work that needed to be done, Laurel Hill popped up on my AllStays search as being on the way from Lancaster to Columbus, my rough trajectory. Surprisingly, the park had a lot of availability so I booked myself in for five nights.
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You might think twice about staying at a place called “Hungry Mother.” I sure did. Turns out it’s a local legend involving the original settlers (Native Americans) vs. newer settlers (white people taking the land) and somehow a child saying “hungry, mother.” Sure, let’s go with that.
Meanwhile, the park itself is yet another jewel in the crown that is the Virginia state park system. A lake, hiking trails, cabins, two campgrounds, fishing, swimming, this place has a lot going on. Two fun facts about this park: it is one of the six original Civilian Conservation Core (CCC) parks that opened in June 1936 and in 2007, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
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One thing you learn quickly as a full-timer is to make sure you’ve got a solid plan for each of the big summer holidays. Memorial Day kicks off the summer camping for many people, so it’s not the weekend to wing it. I’d reserved at Black Moshannon almost six months out because that’s about how fast campgrounds are filling up for the holiday weekends in 2021. And sure, enough, the campground was completely booked, except for one sweet spot. Which wasn’t where I landed when I arrived…
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The formal name is Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park, but that’s obviously a mouthful, so most people just call it Gold Head, from what I was told. There’s a deep ravine that splits the park in two, with trails on either side of it, and that ravine is Gold Head Branch.
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Ah, Lake Wateree State Park, full of trees and squirrels mating all over the place. Yes, my timing was absolutely perfect to see squirrel mating habits in the wild, from chasing each other all over the fallen leaves to scampering up and down trees in very, uh, creative ways. I actually never got tired of watching them bound all over the place, they’re quite entertaining little critters.
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You know that old saying “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all?” That will explain why this review of Poinsett State Park is shorter than most reviews.
The good things? It has some really lovely hiking trails. The camping sites are large and well-maintained. And it’s the closest state park to Congaree National Park, which was why we were here.
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This year’s stay at Edisto Beach State Park on the coast in South Carolina was a do-over from last year’s canceled plans. It was, as per usual for the beach, worth the wait.
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