The Brodhead Watershed Association will host a Get Outdoors Poconos hike at the Thomas Darling Preserve atop Pocono Plateau outside Blakeslee, Monroe County on January 28 from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m.

With rare plants, ancient waters and a landscape laid down by glaciers, the Preserve offers 2,500 acres of spruce forest and an array of glacial wetlands perfect for a wintry hike.

Carol Hillestad will guide a 2.2 mile adventure through the preserve at Two-Mile Run, in a section managed by The Nature Conservancy-PA.

A long boardwalk will lead hikers through the heart of the marsh decorated in sphagnum moss, winterberry, witch hazel, blueberry bushes and groves of slim white birches. The marsh is ringed by one of Pennsylvania’s largest forests of native black spruce.

Back on “solid” but soggy land, animal paths crisscross the boggy ground. Hikers might also see the natives: black bears, river otters, snowshoe hares, and a profusion of nesting and migratory birds.

Hikers should meet at Thomas Darling Preserve trailhead at the intersection of routes 940 and 115 in Blakeslee, go north on Route 115 for one mile. Take Burger Road, on your right, to the trailhead. GPS coordinates for parking lot: 41.115573, -75.590863

The hike is free, but registration is required.  Call 570 839-1120 or 570 629-2727 or send  email to: info@brodheadwatershed.org. 

For information about this and other hikes, go to the Get Outdoors Poconos series.  The hike series is administered by Brodhead Watershed Association and supported by a grant from the William Penn Foundation.

More information about programs, initiatives and other upcoming events, visit the Brodhead Watershed Association website.

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[Posted Dec. 27, 2016]

1/2/2017