Beefalo! In Pennsylvania?

Yesterday was a fantastic fall day in PA - an excellent day for a road trip.  I have been wanting to go to Little Buffalo State Park for a while, so I decided to make the trek up there.  Lots of beautiful foliage to to see in PA at this time of the year.  Some of the rain last week beat up the trees so they're already looking pretty bare, but still lots of fall colors.  My GPS was not really thrilled about the address I punched in for the park so I went with whatever it wanted to do.  Bad plan.  When I turned right onto Dix Hill Rd I sort of thought to myself it didn't seem right but eh, let's see what happens.  Turns out that sort of attitude will take you onto a gravel road with various NO TRESPASSING signs and at least one BEWARE OF OWNER sign.  So, I went ahead and turned around.  But not before snapping some pictures and searching for the park on the GPS.  Thank you, kind folks at Garmin, for making my trip a bit more eventful.

Can you hear the banjos?

Dix Hill Rd: sorta creepy but very scenic.

Once I got my route figured out - I was on my merry way once again.  When I was a few minutes from my destination, I spotted an old cemetery on a hillside.  In the interest of old timey stuff (and Halloween) I pulled over to check it out.  1864 was the oldest I could read and the newest was 1941.  Lots of tiny markers were too worn to read but for the age most were remarkably clear. 

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A quiet hillside resting spot.

Once I finished my tour, I resumed my trek to Little Buffalo.  I was less than impressed with finding the place, and not just because of my GPS.  I did not see 85% of the signs until I was exiting the park.  I say that as a traveler who was looking for signs, so, not good.  On the upside, it's very pretty.

Entrance to "pavilion area" that leads you to a port-a-potty in a small parking lot.
Pavilions are tucked into the woods a bit.

There is a swimming pool behind the lake - no swimming in the lake - that is currently closed.  The road leading to it is closed as well so I was unable to investigate what the PA DCNR site describes as, "A state-of-the art swimming pool which is nearly half an acre in size."  Sounds cool but I'll have to return in the summer to verify the accuracy of that particular statement.  I stopped at the visitors center and used a map I got there to find the "meat & potatoes" of the park.  It was OK - some picnic tables along a little stream, restrooms, amphitheater, little learning center.  I went back a short path to see the bridge & mill.

 

Across from the parking lot, there's a butterfly garden halfway up the hill.  Some benches, many flowers, not really spectacular at this time of year.  I saw no butterflies there, but I did at the top of the hill where the big SCENIC VIEW is.  OooOoOo.  Be warned I stitched the panoramic together on my camera so there is a bit of a flaw in the banks.

Holman Lake

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