Lake Hope State Park — Attraction in Brown Township

This was a wonderful place to take the kids for an afternoon of paddle boarding. We didn’t know what to expect when we arrived. The beach was surprisingly small but then that also means the lake wasn’t too crowded either with people. We rented six paddleboards and floated around the lake and swam and then spent a ridiculous amount of money on ice cream bars… you could get a box of 6 from the grocery store for $8 but I spent $25 for 5. The kids were really hungry and this little place could hugely benefit from a bona fide concession stand. Since we were vacationing and not locals, when I read “concessions” on the description, I expected more than exorbitantly overpriced sodas, lunchables, and ice cream bars. Additionally, one of the kids’ paddles fell apart in the water. It had obviously previously broken and had been glued back together. The rental lady, who had been so nice when we first checked in, told my husband that they would need to charge us for breaking the paddle, which was ludicrous as it was previously broken and literally just fell apart as the kid was paddling under the pressure from use. You’d think they’d be making plenty of profit off their ice cream bar sales to afford new paddles instead of trying to glue them...

Come for the Nature, Stay for the People

We stayed at Lake Hope State Park over the 4th of July Weekend and had a wonderful stay. Not only are you surrounded by rolling hills and natural beauty of the Appilachian Foothills, but everyone we met was freindly and passionate about the history of the area and willing to go out of their way to help us learn. Rosie at the park office welcomed us with hospitality, warm, coffee, and some great suggestions for the itinerary. Kailin - the Naturalist, is a wealth of knowledge about the local plants, animals, and geology, and showed me which plants I could snack on. Glen, a passionate volunteer, helped us understand the physics of smelthing iron, as well as the history of the moonville tunnel and plants like Jack in the pulpit. We capped off the trip with a brunch that couldn't be beat at the Lake hope Lodge. Brisket and cobbler for...

We rented a cottage for the weekend. There’s so much to do here!! You can rent pontoon boats or canoes. You can swim on the little beach. The cottages have full sized stove, refrigerator and microwave. The kitchen is stocked with a coffee machine, toaster and all the basic things you need for cooking. There’s two bedrooms and one has bunk beds. The cottage was clean! It has a wood burning fireplace in it too! We rented several cottages and had trouble with the air in one. They sent out a tech at 8:30pm to put in a window air conditioner. He was wonderful and came back the next morning to fix the air. We had a wonderful experience here and are coming back for a longer stay next time. You won’t have wifi unless you are inside the lodge. So they have maps that give you good directions! That was appreciated. Definitely check out the...