We started out at the Blue Marsh Visitors Center, located at 1268 Palisades Drive in Leesport. The Visitors Center has a lookout so you can see great views of the lake area. We chose to start here because we wanted to find a geocache. There is a Tulpehocken Creek Valley Geo-Trail with 20 caches around the creek and Blue Marsh Lake areas.
What is Geocaching?
Geocaching is like an outdoor treasure hunt using a cell phone or other type of electronic device to track coordinates to a specific location called "ground zero". Geocaches come in all shapes and sizes ranging from very small (like the size of a dime) to very large (we once found a 5-gallon bucket). All geocaches contain a log so that when you find it, you can sign your name to the log with the date you found it. The medium to large size caches usually contain trinkets like stickers, little toys, books, etc. that you can select from when you find the cache. The rule is to replace the item you take with another item, though, so when we head out geocaching, we always take a backpack with a few extra goodies to leave. Another thing to remember is not to place food or anything that has a scent inside the cache, so it does not attract animals.
The only real rule for geocaches is that they have to be waterproof containers, so you may be looking for a plastic Tupperware container, a bucket with a lid, an old Army ammo can, or it could be something that blends in more with nature, looking more like a rock, log or birdhouse. The one we found was one of those rocks made to hide a key. Though we did not find this one at the Visitors Center, we did find it in the Blue Marsh Lake Area.
 Do you see that rock buried under some sticks and leaves? That was the geocache! Some are easier to find than others. This one had a hint that said "rocky". |  Here is my son with the geocache after we found it. The place where a key would normally go is where there was a small capsule with the logbook. |  Some of the smaller geocaches like this one include instructions that say "BYOP" which means Bring Your Own Pen, because there isn't room in the cache for it. |
Along with geocaching, we also hiked two of the many trails that are found along the Blue Marsh Lake. We walked from the Visitors Center to the Great Oaks Nature Trail, which includes to options: a short trail and a longer trail. We ended up doing the longer trail, and we were glad we did. They start out the same, but you'll eventually come to a fork and have to decide which trail to follow. While the beginning had a lot of uphill hiking, it leveled out after that and the remainder of the longer trail only had a little more uphill hiking, but most of it was more level... until the end, where there was a pretty steep downhill part leading back out close to where we began. If you want to learn more about nature, there are 14 points along the trail to tell you more about the area and the wildlife found in the area, and the park has done a good job of putting in bridges or event just pieces of wood to allow you to navigate over the areas where water may run through or may be a muddier area.
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In addition to hiking, the Blue Marsh Lake Recreation Area offers a variety of activities to do such as canoeing, mountain biking, fishing, picnicking, bird watching, and more. There is a small beach and several boat launches, too. From this trail, you can also connect to the Union Canal Trail and the Schuylkill River Trail.
Where should we check out next in Berks County? Email me at jenniferschorr@macaronikid.com to make your suggestion!
