Outdoor Trails: A generation later, here comes Swatara Park
Ad Crable
Lancaster New Era
http://www.lancnews.com
05/08/98
(Copyright 1998 Lancaster Newspapers)

Whatever happened to Swatara State Park and its huge lake?

A generation after it was first proposed to serve Lancaster and 700,000 residents in surrounding counties, it appears the 3,516-acre park and its 752-acre boating and fishing reservoir is going to happen.

A couple weeks ago, the state filed for the final environmental and historical permits needed to build the dam and other recreational facilities in the Swatara Gap of Lebanon and Schuylkill counties.

The park, bordering Interstate 81 near Pine Grove, is 32 miles north of downtown Lancaster.

A backed-up Swatara Creek could begin filling the lake and other park improvements could be under construction by 2000, according to optimistic state officials.

The park, in a beautiful setting flanked by Blue and Second mountains, would ease boating and fishing congestion on the Susquehanna River and Blue Marsh Lake. It would also offer:

At least 15 miles of hiking, biking, ski-touring, snowmobile and horse trails, including a two-mile rerouting of the Appalachian Trail and a 12-mile loop trail around the lake.

A day-use area for swimming, including a bathhouse.

Various picnic areas, a visitor's center and vistas.

180-200 campsites, ranging from full-service recreational vehicle spots, to primitive camping for backpackers. Modern cabins similar to those found in other state parks also are being considered.

Hunting, which is currently offered on the undeveloped state park, will continue in many spots.

Historical and wildlife-observation features. Six locks on the old Union Canal will remain, as well as portions of an 18th century railroad and various wetlands.

Stream fishing. In addition to a stocked lake, Trout Run is a stocked trout stream and several headwater streams boast native brook trout. A year-round trout fishery might also be created as cold water is discharged into Swatara Creek downstream of the dam.

Unflooded portions of Swatara Creek support smallmouth bass and panfish.

In the 1950s, the late Maurice Goddard, then secretary of the state Department of Forests and Waters, pledged a system of state parks so that no Pennsylvanian would be farther than 25 miles from one.

Swatara State Park, formally proposed by Goddard in 1969, is one of the last keystone parks to fulfill that goal.

What's taken so long?

In two words, polluted water.

Acid mine drainage, sedimentation and leaching of heavy metals from coal silt waste from coal-mining days of old have long prevented the upper reaches of Swatara Creek from supporting many gamefish.

"The last thing we'd want to do is create a lake that would not support aquatic life," says Bill Friese, park manager for Memorial Lake and Swatara state parks.

In a remarkable effort involving state and federal governments and determined private groups, much of the pollution has been cleaned up, treated or diverted.

So successful have been the abatement efforts that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently designated Swatara Creek as the first national monitoring point for acid-mine drainage and land-treatment practices.

Also capping the long battle was a 1996 electrofishing survey by the Fish and Boat Commission which found smallmouth and largemouth bass, chain pickerel, suckers, sunfish, rock bass and other panfish thriving in the Swatara.

The PFBC intends to experiment with all kinds of game fish in the new lake, including muskie, northern pike and largemouth bass.

While waiting for the water to clear, the state began acquiring property, buying the last of the 3,516 acres in 1987. The historic Waterville Bridge was moved from Pine Creek Gorge in Lycoming County and rebuilt over Swatara Creek in 1988 for use by Appalachian Trail hikers.

A three-mile relocation of Route 443, including an underpass for anglers using Trout Run, was finished in 1993. Some 800,000 tons of coal culm piles were hauled away.

The unmarked park has been used by hunters and fishers through the decades. Hikers use the old railroad bed.

An estimated 133,000 people visited the park in 1995. When complete, triple that number of outdoors-seekers are expected to make their way to the state's newest park.

The lake, larger than Lancaster County's Speedwell Forge, Muddy Run and Middle Creek lakes combined, will be the park's biggest draw.

Nearly seven miles long, it will follow the path of Swatara Creek with ample coves and fingers for exploration by fishers and canoeists seeking privacy.

The lake will have an average width of 1,200 feet and a depth ranging from 10 to 40 feet.

Actually, the lake will be a return to an old land use. A 672-acre reservoir at the same location was built in the early 1800s to supply water for the Union Canal, used mainly to transport coal from the area.

An 1862 flood washed away the dams and reservoir, and wiped out the canal.

Boats will be restricted to paddles and oars, or motors no larger than 10 horsepower. No power boats, water skiing or personal watercraft will be permitted.

Boaters will be surrounded by forests that angle toward the lake. The mountain slopes on both sides of the park are assured of remaining pristine state as they are part of State Game Lands 211 and 80.

Although there is some private land bordering the park and overlooking it - land that may be developed - the lake will not become a Lake Wallenpaupack with intense shorefront development, state Bureau of State Parks officials say.

The decision to build the lake is not yet final. The state will shortly undergo a public comment process.

The Sierra Club, for one, has urged the state to consider alternatives to flooding the valley. Some canoeists don't want to see Swatara Creek flooded.

But repeated surveys undertaken by the state show residents in the region want and need "flatwater" recreation - more today than ever.

"I think the citizens over there would be disappointed if we did nothing when we set out 28 years ago to provide for outdoor recreation," says Friese. "We can do that more effectively with a lake."

Ed Deaton, chief of the state parks' planning section, says, "Many of the features of that valley there today will still remain after that reservoir. There will be a lot of places to seek peace and quiet.

"In our minds, we're supplementing that with an additional feature."