Park Rambles

Buttermilk Falls - January 18, 2019

Hemlock Lake Wood Duck Box

Colorful Wood Ducks will use nesting boxes at Hemlock Lake. Each winter the boxes are cleaned out and a fresh layer of sawdust is placed inside for nesting material.

Landscape Study in Black and White

Blue Spruce Lake

Winter Sun at Blacklick Valley Natural Area

The David and Penny Russell Memorial Shelter is a good place to stop on a winter hike to enjoy the winter sunshine. The Russells donated 675 acres of land which comprise the now 719 acre site.

Snake Catchers at Sun Cliff

This photo appeared in a 1915 edition of a Philadelphia newspaper in a section called Images Across America. R.W. who was Indiana County's master naturalist appears with Fred Prosser and Raymond Smith. The caption reads, "the only weapons they use are fast legs and a forked stick". Sun Cliff is located outside the boundary of Yellow Creek State Park. The property is now private property but for many years was used by IUP classes as a field trip site.

Winter View at Blue Spruce Lake

Shadow Tree

The winter sun casts the shadow of a Sugar Maple tree onto the spillway of Cummings Dam.

Winter Bloom

Inside the Blue Spruce Lakeside Center the geraniums bloom year-round adding a touch of color, even in January when this photo was taken.

Lacy Ice

Wind and wave action creates a lacy edge to the ice formation on Blue Spruce Lake. On January 11, 2019 when this photo was taken ice was just beginning to form on the lake.

The Proud Chickadee

Buttermilk Falls - January 2, 2019

It's been a mild winter so far, usually by now the falls are beginning to be coated in ice. In 2018 Indiana County has it highest rainfall total of all time since records have been kept, nearly 22 inches above normal rain of 48 inches for the year.

Hand Feeding Chickadees

A popular winter activity at Blue Spruce Park is to hand feed our flocks of Chickadees. Sunflower seeds are especially liked as well as peanut kernels.

Ice Accumulates

The constant trickling of water slowly adds the buildup of ice at Buttermilk Falls.

Under the Falls Panorama

Winter has returned to Buttermilk Falls and with it the changing conditions at the falls. If you visit the falls in the winter please exercise extra caution while navigating the steps and platforms in snowy and icy conditions.

Mudpuppy Gills

Mudpuppies retain their external gills their entire life and as referred to as the "Peter Pan" of salamanders because "they never grow up". The gills also serve as the host site for the larvae of the Salamander Mussel, its the only mussel that uses another animal as its host.

Mudpuppy

One of the most unique salamander species that lives in Indiana County is the Common Mudpuppy. This adult was about 12 inches in length. Mudpuppies have more DNA in their cells than any living organism on Earth, a truly unique species that is worth protecting for that reason alone.

Trusal Covered Bridge

An old photo of the Trusal Covered Bridge on this interpretive panel shows that prior to the mid-1960s the covered bridge was not painted.

Witch Hazel in Bloom

By November Witch Hazel is in bloom, adding some color to our woods at a time of year when most trees have lost their fall colors.

Sycamore Allee

At the West Penn Trail, east of Saltsburg, a row of Sycamore trees, in garden terms an allee, lines the path. The West Penn Trail is operated by the Conemaugh Valley Conservancy. The trail follows the path of the former Pennsylvania Canal in many places.

Our 50th Annivesary Word Cloud

Our word cloud mimics our logo and lists all of the sites that we operate, along with things you can do and experience at our parks and trails. In 2017 we celebrated our 50th year of providing county parks in Indiana County.

November Sunshine at Hemlock Lake

First Snow of 2018

Northern portions of Indiana County received their first snowfall dusting of the winter on November 10, 2018. This scene is from Hemlock Lake.

Changing Scene at Buttermilk Falls

A fall scene at Buttermilk Falls.

Stone Arch Bridge at Tunnelview

Swimming Upstream

Although Blue Spruce Lake is stocked with trout sometimes the trout move upstream to the small Getty Run stream that feeds the lake.

November Sunset at Trusal Covered Bridge

Foggy Conemaugh Gap

A view of the Conemaugh Gap taken from Oneida Road just outside of Dilltown, PA. The gap is one of the deepest gorges in the eastern U.S.

Eliza Furnace Historic Site