This past weekend we took a quick trip to the local state park. Tyler State Park is located in Newtown, PA. This Pennsylvania state park sits on 1,711 acres and the Neshaminy creek runs throughout the park.
There are many different activities you can do while spending the day here. You can go fishing along the creek. There are two dams located within the park that are excellent places to throw out a line.
You can also hike the many paved and unpaved trails. Apparently there are about 25 miles worth of trails. One thing to note, the trails are shared. You could be sharing the same paths with horses and bikes.
That’s right, if you have a horse or can rent one near by you can do a little horse back riding about 25 miles outside of center city Philadelphia.
There is also a disc golf course if that is more your speed. According to the state website this 36 hole course is one of the top ranked disc golf courses in the country. I must say I always see people playing when I go to take some photographs or take my daughter for a hike.
On this day we I decided to take her to ride her bike and to see the covered bridge. After being sick most of the week, I wanted to get her out and enjoy the warm weather and help get her moving again.
We drove by the community college and parked at the covered bridge parking lot located off of swamp road. Beware it is not a paved road, only a rock road.
I had her strap on the helmet and get ready to ride her back and to check out the bridge. The Schofield Ford covered bridge was built originally in 1873 and rebuilt in 1997 after an earlier fire destroyed the bridge.
If you have never seen a covered bridge up close or ever this is a great one to check out. Only foot, bike and horse traffic can cross. There’s a slight uphill going into it and a slight downhill coming out.
Watch out if you are on a bike. If your kids are not good with slowing themselves down, going downhill you may want them to walk it down.
Also know that there are no lights in the bridge. Only a little bit of natural light will come through.
Once you can get the kids or yourself through the big “scary” bridge there are some nice trails on the other side. You can follow one are head towards the boathouse or follow another and stay along the creek. Either one will be a pleasant walk or ride.
Once she was done riding her bike, we took a closer look at the bridge. She really enjoyed running in it and jumping off the rock wall leading up to the bridge.
After we explored the bridge we headed back to the car to drive to the boathouse. They do offer canoe rentals in the summer time. It is a nice little paddle upstream if you enjoy spending time on the water.
We were there just to walk around and maybe find a spot to go fishing when we go again. Bonus tip: they stock the creek with trout in March for opening day of trout season every year.
Much like most kids though, we just spent a lot of time down by the water putting our hand in. There is no swimming here but you can walk about the bank of the creek. The water is usually only 6 inches or so deep. After storms the water can get much high so just be safe.
Today was just a simple cheap day out to enjoy a local state park and get some fresh air. We decided that in May we will come out here for a picnic lunch one Sunday.
Hopefully I get my bike fixed by that time and we can ride together and go deeper into the park. Until than it will just have to be her riding by herself.
Of course I usually stop here at least once every two weeks on my way to work. I just love the different landscape photo opportunities. From the covered bridge to the two different dams to the countless open fields and woodland scenes. Tyler State Park offers many different actives for you and your kids to enjoy.
Kozmo Photos 