State Game Lands #38

State Game Lands #38, Pennsylvania (10/12/2012)

I had never heard of SGL #38 nor any other SGL for that matter (SGL is an abbreviation for State Game Lands, the Pennsylvania equivalent to the WMA, or Wildlife Management Area of New Jersey) until I saw the gorgeous photos my friend Daniela took here last month. At that time I put it on our "To Hike" list. And today, a beautiful, cool fall day, Laura and I took the day off from work and drove the 80 or so minutes to enjoy this amazing place. Like the WMAs in New Jersey, there are no blazed trails, just old woods roads and unblazed trails used mainly by sportsmen. Hunting was allowed today but we didn't see any hunters, nor anyone else for that matter, until the last 10 minutes when two mountain bikers passed us on the last leg.

Like Daniela, we used Hike #13 ("Wolf Swamp and Deep Lake") in Hiking the Poconos: A Guide to the Area's Best Hiking Adventures (1st edition), as the framework, and did it in the reverse direction from that suggested in the book. To that hike we added a loop north and west of Wolf Swamp, as well as an out-and-back to Sand Spring Lake.

The fall foliage was quite spectacular in places, moderate to high. Total distance was 6.6 miles in nearly 4 hours.

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