The drive out to R.B. Winter State Park from the Centre Region is an adventure all in itself. The park is located just past the Centre County line along Route 192 in Union County, and the drive there takes you out through beautiful Brush Valley. On the route you will pass Amish farms (and likely a buggy or two, so drive carefully), Penn’s Cave, and the small communities of Rebersburg and Madisonburg, all sitting snugly in the tight valley. It is a lovely step back in time.
After passing the small village of Livonia and entering Union County, you notice the farms fading away and you are surrounded by Bald Eagle State Forest, in which sits the beautiful R.B. Winter State Park.
Now, despite having the word “winter” in its name, this park is a fun place to visit during any season. After all, the park was not named for a season; it was named to honor forester Raymond Burrows Winter. He helped to establish the park and worked there and in the state forest for forty-five years. Seems like a fitting tribute to a man who truly loved the area and worked to preserve it as a recreational place for us all.
The focal point of this park is Halfway Lake, and up until 1957 the park was called Halfway Dam State Park. It was in 1933 that a team of 200 Civilian Conservation Corps workers built the dam with the assistance of the forester leaders. It was the first cement and stone dam built by the CCC in the United States.
Today, we still get to benefit from their labor. The seven-acre lake sits beautifully between the ridges. The 300-foot beach is a beautiful place to swim in the summer, and I hear the fishing is good too. The lake and one of its tributaries, Rapid Run, are stocked with brown, rainbow, and brook trout by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission regularly during the season,
The lake is not very large, and an easy walk around it offers an opportunity to view its many different features. Just be careful on the section near the dam by the road. My dog, Peggy, and I recently took a nice little hike around the lake during a chilly December day, and the water was just starting to freeze. There were fun rock formations (Peggy likes to climb on them) along the trail, streams to cross, and connections to other trails along the way.
During the spring, summer, and fall, the park offers a wide variety of programming including nature walks and other special events. The Halfway Run Environmental Center offers educational tools for visitors. They even have a limited amount of mountain bikes, snowshoes, fishing poles, hiking poles, and GPS units for people to try for free if it is a first-time experience with them.
With 8.5 miles of trails inside the park, there is plenty of space to use them. Some are multi-use (for hiking, biking, horseback riding, etc.), while others are only for foot traffic. The park trails often connect you to other trails in the state forest, like the Mid State Trail, so R.B. Winter is often used as a starting point for backpacking trips.
Likewise, when there is snow, designated park roads allow access to more than 300 miles of roads and trails in Bald Eagle State Forest that permit snowmobile riding. There are also cross-country skiing and snowshoeing opportunities in the park. A winter report is available at dcnr.pa.gov/StateParks/WinterReport.
For those interested in seeing what the park has to offer in the colder months, the Friends of R.B. Winter State Park are again hosting Snowfest on February 25 from noon to 4 p.m. Hopefully by then we have a lot of snow on the ground.
The event offers free winter activities, a silent auction, a 3.5-mile trail race, and more fun in the snow.
I have run the trail race many years in the past. Held by the Mid Penn Trailblazers (who also hold the annual Dam Half Marathon trail race at the park every September), the race takes runners on a fun course through the park. It is especially fun when there is a good amount of snowfall on the days heading into the race.
If you have never run on a snow-covered trail before, it is an amazing experience, especially when you are out there with friends during a race. A good snowpack can sometimes feel like a cushion to your feet. Breaking through heavy snow, of course, can be difficult, but I am not fast enough to be a front runner, so they usually do that work for me.
Hiking the course is an option too, making the event a fun time for the whole family. Enjoy some hot cocoa afterwards and try some of the winter activity demonstrations. Maybe take a walk on the frozen lake.
After all, come March, things should begin to thaw out. Before long, it will be time to swim in that lake again. One thing is for sure, no matter the season, a trip out to R.B. Winter State Park is an opportunity for adventure, so find some time to take the trip out and explore it for yourself. T&G
Vincent Corso loves exploring the outdoors in central Pennsylvania and beyond.
