Beltzville State Park — Attraction in Franklin Township

Comprehensive review. Beltzville is one of the busiest state parks in Pennsylvania. On a recent 4th of July holiday, the park reached capacity at 9:30 AM. Also check with the park about water conditions and any sudden closures. Inside the park day use area, you'll find a very nice beach, rest rooms and changing areas, four picnic pavilions and plenty of picnic tables. For exercise, you can use one of the soccer fields or take advantage of the boat rental facility. This section also has the park office and environmental interpretive center. Beltzville currently has a very extensive calendar of events such as nature walks, night sky programs, and plant I.D walks. Pictured is a group participating in the very popular "Friday Mornings Coffee & Birds" program. The beach section has the easiest trails to hike in the park and a very nice covered bridge. Boating is an especially fun activity at Beltzville where there is a boat lunch area on both the north and south side of the park. On the north side is the three lane Pine Run Boat Lauch. The picture with the white truck is at Pine Run. On the southside is Preachers Camp Boat Launch. Here you'll find two docks, and a separate area for small watercrafts and an ADA kayak dock. A nice extra at Beltzville is a water ski area of the lake with a 45 mph limit. Most trails in the park are rated difficult, and two of them leave from the Preachers Camp area. From the kayak area, Trinity Gorge Trail heads west and then loops back. Preachers Camp Trail heads east from the boat lunch area and ends at a small parking lot at Trachsville Hill Road. When accessing the west end of the park off Old Mill Road, you should look for a not marked lot for the Sawmill Trail on the left. While this is listed as a difficult trail, I didn't find the first part hard at all and it took me to some very nice waterfalls. Further down Old Mill Road you'll come to a parking area near the dam. This part of the creek is supposedly stocked with rainbow trout. One other area to check out is at the end of Airport Road. There is a nice view of the dam from there and a small trail that's not listed on the park map. Speaking of the Dam, the main parking area by the dam was blocked off for the weekend which disappointed me. I also found seven other accesses to the park blocked off, mostly on the north side. Towards the east end of Pohopoco Drive is a parking area marked Wild Creek Trail. You can access three trails from here. The Falls Trail will take you to a sizable waterfall. Then along Penn Forest Road, The Flying Machine Society has a field for flying model planes. You must be a member to participate. Unfortunately, there is no camping at Beltzville. Check private campgrounds nearby. In season, there are 1707 acres open for hunting, trapping and dog training. You can hunt deer, rabbit, pheasant, ruffled grouse, and waterfowl. When the ice is thick enough, you can ice fish. If it snows, cross country skiing is popular. Learn more at PA parks and forests Watch the you tube video at...

. have been to this park several times during the Spring with my sister and nephew during the Spring the park is almost completely empty the lake is very clean at the end of the park where the Lake Ends there is a man-made Dam. The lake is a swimming Lake.

Me and my sister like going fishing we try several times but the fishing sucks we went under the bridge there were a couple of people there there were several bass swimming around but they would not bite. you must be very careful the Park police or DNR or park ranger will sneak up on you and give you ticket for fishing with no license. I was lucky I had my fishing license. But my brother that came to visit did not have a PA fishing license he showed a digital NJ one on his phone but the officer said that's no good gave a $200 ticket.

During the holidays or summer the park gets so crowded you won't be able to find a parking spot unless you get there early . the park is literally so crowded there must be close to more than a thousand people there.

At the Beach you can rent boats and ski jets. If you're trying to go fishing you must find yourself a fishing spot because all the boats and ski Jets will scare the fish away.

There is lifeguard at the swimming beach. But Not all the time but they do have a buoy line and that you can't cross that lead up to five feet.

There's always park ranger or game warden patrolling the area.. there is several barbecue areas. I like it's not that bad the only thing is the fishing sucks unless you have a fishing calendar and know when to go one of the officers told us that they do not stock the lake with trout like other parks do with their Lakes. The only thing I do not like is super super crowded in the summer..

forgot to mention I do not like going swimming in a Lakes especially man-made lake like I have stated previously the Park can bring in over 1,000 people during the summer and holidays once that happened the police start shutting down the park no one can enter the park after they reach a limit of people. And you know with lots of people in the water not everyone is going to use the bathroom so they have to go somewhere if you know...

Grew up near here and have always loved the area. There are more trails than before and many are suitable for people with dogs and kids. At the main site there are a few bird blinds and a very small naturey play area. They used to have a playground but no longer. Lots of Pokemon if that's your thing. Nice soccer fields and picnic areas. Seasonal volleyball, boat rental is available. I've only seen the educational building open once a year. Outside of the main area there are two boat launches, one with a handicapped kayak put in. Fishing is allowed off of boats or along the shore -no dock fishing. During holidays and summer season they close off the trails (outside of the main area) because excessive picnicking and resultant excessive traffic, litter, and noise pollution has caused damage to the ecosystems and trails. Swimming is only allowed seasonally at the beach (which is sandy), however there are no lifeguards posted. Please don't try to swim if you don't know how and don't jump off cliffs -there can be large boulders you can't see. Those two activities have claimed the lives of many people over the years. No alcohol is allowed anywhere. I don't think they have a concession stand during the busy season. They used to when I was young. Nowadays most locals avoid Beltzville during the summer...