Hiking: Cowans Gap State Park
Posted By BrokenClaw on July 1, 1998
Trailwalker found a listing in one of her brochures for a place called Cowans Gap State Park near Mercersburg, PA. She called for information and confirmed that the park had camping, boating, a beach for swimming, and hiking. We were determined to get an early start on Saturday, so we were on the road by 7:00 AM. The weather forecast was for sunny, hot weather all weekend.
In Mercersburg we stopped for gas and confirmed the directions to the park with the attendant. We arrived at Cowans Gap at 11:00 AM. After stopping at the park office, we picked out a campsite beside a spring, with a grassy area for the tent, near the showers. Broken Claw set up the tent while Trailwalker gathered firewood.
We followed the creek trail to the lake. We rented a paddle boat and made our way around the lake, down to the dam and spillway. Next we headed over to the beach. The mountain water was quite cold, so we spent most of our time soaking up sun, although Trailwalker did brave one quick dip. As soon as we got back to our camp we started dinner. With plenty of light left in the day, we walked the Lakeside Trail all the way around the lake. The park naturalist had a stargazing program scheduled for 9:00 PM, so we checked it out. Her expertise was less than impressive, and since this was one of the longest days of the year, the stars weren’t even visible till almost 10. We decided to sneak out early. We went back and lit our campfire while listening to the baseball game on the radio.
Sunday arrived in brilliant sunshine. We planned to take a serious hike on the mountain trails, so Broken Claw cooked a hearty brunch. Then we packed the knapsack with water, snacks, camera, and first-aid and started out. Not too far up the trail we met our first obstacle. What appeared to be a landslide or blasting area was marked Danger: Keep Out. So we checked our map and decided to take the longer route to the top. First we headed down a long, straight logging road. We had a little trouble recognizing the turnoff for the trail up, the Twin Springs Trail, but finally we found some markers that assured us that we were heading in the right direction. The trail seemed completely overgrown, but the markers were evenly spaced and easy to find. Eventually it led back to our original trail, the Knobsville Road Trail, heading for the overlook. But once again, we came to another part of the massive landslide marked Danger: Keep Out. Although the terrain dropped practically straight down, the trail on the other side was not difficult to reach, so we continued our ascent. [Since then, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has converted this area into a "Landslide Interpretive Exhibit."]
We finally reached the small platform marking the overlook. Between the trees we could see the lake and beach far below. While stopped there, we met the only other hikers on the trail. We asked them about their route, and they confirmed that they had come via our planned route back. They warned us that the trail was quite steep and overgrown, but passable. Since our map was merely an aerial map, and not topographical, we really had no idea where the trail went in relation to the top of the mountain.
We soon discovered that we had to go over the top of Cove Mountain, then part way down the other side, before attempting the very steep part of Horseshoe Trail. On the other side of the ridge, we enjoyed a wonderful view of the next valley. Finally we found where the trail turned back toward Cowans. We were puzzled by a weather-worn sign that indicated that the trail was closed. Nevertheless, we pressed on. As it turned out, the trail was indeed very steep going back up to the top, actually more of a climb than a hike, then just regular steep going all the way down the other side. We were glad we were both wearing our serious hiking boots, and we managed to traverse the mountain with only minimal casualty –i.e. one slip, no blood.
We made it back to the beach concession stand and ordered some french fries. On our way back to camp, we stopped at the Nature Center and talked briefly with the naturalist. When we mentioned our route, she explained that the landslide was indeed a natural event that had occurred two years earlier. She also told us that Twin Springs Trail had been closed ever since! And Horseshoe Trail was marked as Closed because too many inexperienced hikers were not heeding the warnings about the difficulty of the trail! Oh, well!
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