The summer is filled with tasty combinations: french fries and ketchup, hot dogs and burgers, ice cream and cones. But perhaps none says summer more than sun and water. And when the heat is on, the region has plenty of ways to cool off. “I don’t think the community realizes how many options there are for water activities in Berks County,” says Lisa Haggerty, Reading and Berks County Visitors Bureau/Pennsylvania’s Americana Region marketing director. Here are five of the most popular options…
Photo Courtesy Aqua Om
"A POPULAR TREND IS PADDLEBOARDING,” HAGGERTY SAYS. “ONE OF OUR PARTNERS, “ AQUA OM PADDLE, OFFERS LESSONS AT BLUE MARSH.”
BlueMarsh LAKE
Officially, summer doesn’t begin until late June. But by that point in the year, the summer season is already in full swing with kids weeks into their summer breaks.
Unofficially, summer begins Memorial Day weekend, when most of the pools across Berks County splash into action and one of the area’s most frequented waterways welcomes its first significant bunch of boaters, beachgoers, bikers and bird watchers.
When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed Blue Marsh Lake in the late 1970s, it was more concerned with providing flood control than a place to frolic. But in the end, it provided both.
“Blue Marsh Lake has about 700,000 to 900,000 visitors in any given year on average,” says Jeffrey Piscanio, Blue Marsh’s natural resource manager.
Mostly located in Bern and Lower Heidelberg townships, its 6,200 acres include a 1,150-acre lake, a day-use area with a swim beach and boat launches along with many other fun things to do on land.
Best of all, there is no entry fee.
“The swim beach is about two acres,” Piscanio says. “This includes the swimming area, sand beach and grass towel area. There is a bathhouse with restrooms, showers and changing stalls. There is also a concession stand at the beach.”
Pets are allowed, with restrictions. Alcoholic beverages are not allowed.
Occasionally, heavy rain followed by hot weather causes harmful blooms of blue-green algae, making the water unsafe for swimming.
“Algae bloom information is posted on our Facebook page and the Blue Marsh Lake website,” Piscanio says. “General information can be found at numerous sites such as the EPA and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.”
The lake has become the spot for unpowered boating and various types of motorboating.
“A popular trend is paddleboarding,” Haggerty says. “One of our partners, Aqua Om Paddle, offers stand-up paddleboarding lessons at Blue Marsh.”
Aqua Om also offers yoga, Pilates or floating meditation on paddleboards. Additionally, Blue Marsh Outdoors rents boats, kayaks and canoes at the site.
Certain types of motorboats are prohibited, according to Michael Parker, communications director for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, which operates the Sheidy Boat Launch at the northern end of the lake. Boats are limited to a slow, no-wake speed in the arms of the lake formed by Spring Creek and Tulpehocken Creek. They may not tow more than one water ski device.
“All boaters using the launch must have proper registrations for the powered boats, or unpowered launch permits for unpowered vessels,” Parker says.
Anglers angling for a different kind of water fun have plenty of options.
BLUE MARSH HAS BEEN STOCKED ALMOST EVERY YEAR SINCE 1979 WITH TIGER MUSKY FINGERLINGS, ACCORDING TO PARKER. POPULAR SPORTFISH CONTAINED WITHIN THE LAKE INCLUDE:
Blue Marsh isn’t the only place to have some unpowered boating fun. Rivertribe Outdoors, LLC offers guided and self-guided trips along the Schuylkill River, French Creek, Perkiomen Creek and others.
Photo Courtesy Rivertribe Outdoors
Boating options include canoeing, kayaking and tubing trips by reservation only on select weekdays and a mix of on-demand and reservationbased weekend trips, according to the Douglassville company.
One of its most picturesque offerings is the Full Moon Paddle & Float, a nighttime guided trip on a scenic stretch of the Schuylkill. Rivertribe also offers guided trips, rentals and instruction elsewhere upon request.
TAKE A BREAK TO ENJOY NATURE AT THIS RV PARK AND CAMPGROUND.
This campground near Robesonia is overflowing with water fun, including a water park, heated swimming pools and a fishing pond.
Photo Courtesy Adventure Bound Eagles Peak
SUMMER EVENTS INCLUDE:
Family Field Day Fun from June 20 through 22, featuring field games, flag football, glow-in-the-dark dodgeball and a dance party.
“S’more” Summer fun from June 27 through 29, including s’mores, crafts, sand art and marshmallow wars.
The Best Holiday Ever/Christmas from July 11 through 13, offering a wagon ride and golf cart parade with Santa, cookie decorating, an Easter egg hunt and trick-or-treating.
Icky, Sticky, Ooey Gooey Weekend from Aug. 8 through 10, including a critter connection show, a shaving cream/color run obstacle course and icky sticky dessert bingo.
Multiple Wet & Wild Weekends, featuring water gun water fights, water games and squirt gun tie-dye.
While you’re there, you can partake in plenty of fun stuff on land as well, including an 18-hole miniature golf course, playgrounds, sports courts, a recreation lodge and an RV park and campground.
Let’s get this out of the way: swimming is strictly prohibited at this lake, located on Old Route 22 just outside Hamburg. Don’t risk it. But the 31-acre body of water does offer plenty for fishers and boaters.
Owned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and managed by the Fish and Boat Commission, “the lake is home to a plentiful population of naturally producing largemouth bass, as well as yellow perch, bluegill, pumpkinseed, common carp, channel catfish, yellow bullhead, gizzard shad and alewife,” says Michael Parker, the commission’s communications director. “The lake has been stocked with tiger muskellunge fingerlings, which can grow up to between 40-50 inches long.”
Photo Courtesy Berks Nature
There are plenty of well-worn paths around the water from which you can fish, or you can cast your reels on a boat.
Boats must be unpowered or powered only by electric motors, according to Parker. All boats must be registered or display a current launch permit. Inner tubes and swim aids are not allowed.
Last year, the site added educational summer offerings for children, partnering with nonprofit conservation organization Berks Nature to hold an Eco-Camp. The full-day outdoor summer camp is for rising first graders through rising fifth graders. Camp themes include Colors of Nature, Olympic Games, Nature Detectives and Backwoods Explorers.
“This is a wonderful use of the facility,” Parker says.
Photo Courtesy The Swim Club At Green Valley Country Club
"THE BEST PART ABOUT POOLS IS THAT EVERYONE IN THE COUNTY HAS AN OPTION IN THEIR VICINITY, OFFERING AFFORDABLE RELIEF FROM THE HEAT."
Local POOLS
The other options in this story require everyone to drive to one location; depending on where you live, that could lead to significant travel time. The best part about pools is that everyone in the county has an option in their vicinity, offering affordable relief from the heat and a place for children and youth to productively and safely pass the time.
Photo Courtesy The Swim Club At Green Valley Country Club
Berks has well over a dozen com - munity and private pools. Along with the usual fare, some offer swim lessons, Aqua Zumba, senior swim times and more.
“In terms of places to cool off in Berks County, French Creek State Park is definitely one of my favorite spots,” Haggerty says. “It is a great place to kayak and offers a chlorinated public pool. And you can’t beat the beauty of the woods.”
Photo Courtesy The Swim Club At Green Valley Country Club
And there’s another option if you want to have a splash while avoiding the possibility of getting burned by the sun.
“I never realized how many people turn to hotels with pools to cool off and have fun,” Haggerty says. “The things you learn when you work in tourism and hospitality.”
Photo Courtesy The Swim Club At Green Valley Country Club
A recovering journalist, Jon Fassnacht spent 20 years at the Reading Eagle before joining the world of higher education as a writer/editor/website curator at Alvernia University. In his free time, he loves to run, read, listen to music, travel, write for Berks County Living and hang with his amazing wife and daughter.
Since its inception in 1926, the Reading Musical Foundation has supported students interested in music in countless ways.
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