The Brodhead Creek Watershed Association and the Pohoqualine Fish Association will host a rare hike through the McMichael Creek Preserve on December 18 from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. in Monroe County.

Carol Hillestad will lead a 2.5-mile out-and-back hike along McMichael Creek. Difficulty is easy-to-moderate with some bridges, wet places and short lengths of boardwalk.

The trail is open, easy for the first half mile (it gets rockier later), and hugs the creek. The water is shallow after months of drought, but moss-covered rocks, duck weed and sphagnum moss abound.

Even the waterfalls were made with preservation in mind. Made of logs and concrete, dams create churning falls that pump oxygen into the creek and form deep pools that trout love, shaded and cooled by rhododendrons and hemlocks.

Where the bank overhangs the creek, the fish zip and coast and hover – flickering shapes of sunlight and cold water sure to delight hikers.

Meet at the parking area off Route 715 in Chestnuthill Township, directly across from Idlewood Drive. From the Wawa at the intersection of routes 209 and 715 in Brodheadsville, go north on Route 715 nine-tenths of a mile.

The entrance to parking area is on the right and will be marked with a BWA event sign. If you come to Cottontail Lane, you’ve gone two-tenths of a mile too far. Trailhead GPS: 40.935586, -75.392238

The hike is free, but registration is required.  The hike series is administered by Brodhead Watershed Association and supported by a grant from the William Penn Foundation.

To register or for more information, call 570-839-1120 or 570-629-2727 or send email to: info@brodheadwatershed.org. 

For information about this and other hikes organized by the Brodhead Creek Watershed Association and its partners in the Northeast, visit the Get Outdoors Poconos webpage.

More information on the programs, initiatives and other upcoming events is available by visiting the Brodhead Creek Watershed Association website.  Click Here to sign up for regular updates from the Association.

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[Posted Nov. 30, 2016]

12/5/2016