Clear Creek State Park | The Beauty Around Us

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Clear Creek State Park, PA

Clear Creek State Park encompasses 1,444 acres in Jefferson County, PA. The park occupies a scenic portion of the Clear Creek Valley from PA 949 to the Clarion River. Cook Forest State Park is only 11 miles away.

Beartown Rocks with Amber and Johnny

Amber and John at Beartown Rocks

This past Saturday Bob and I visited Beartown Rocks at Clear Creek State Park, near Sigel PA, with Amber and Johnny. We didn’t meet only for a walk through the woods. Amber and Johnny asked me to be their photographer for an engagement photo session.

Amber and Johnny are long-time friends with my brother and his family. Bob and I see Amber and Johnny sometimes when we spend the day at Jim and Judy’s camp and often at family weddings, birthdays and other family-type celebrations. John proposed to Amber in May this year on top of the Beartown Rocks Overlook. What an excellent choice of location for their engagement photo session!

I had John recreate the proposal.

Amber’s beautiful engagement ring

The happily engaged couple
and the lovely view from the Beartown Rocks Overlook.

Thank you for choosing me as your photographer for your engagement photo session, Amber and Johnny, and congratulations once again to you both!

A Sunday Drive

We went for another day trip on Sunday, our fourth trip in as many days. We planned to go to Beartown Rocks in Clear Creek State Park. We never made it there.

As we were passing through Marienville on our way to Clear Creek State Park, we saw a sign for Loleta Recreation Area located 6 miles away. We decided to see what was located at Loleta Recreation Area. Upon reaching Loleta, we saw a rutted, dirt road. Bob wondered where that road went.

We drove 10 miles or more on Forestry Road, which runs alongside the East Branch Millstone Creek. The road is an old rail road grade used for logging years ago.

Forestry Road

After 10 miles or so on Forestry Road, we reached a paved road that went back into the heart of Marienville. We came into Marienville one road over from the road that we took to Loleta.

We did go back to Loleta Recreation Area. The quick peek I had of the area, before we departed for parts unknown, showed a creek in the center of a park-like setting, with water flowing over a dam.

Loleta Recreation Area

From Loleta Recreation Area we drove to Clear Creek State Park. Upon reaching Clear Creek State Park, we drove first to the swimming beach.

A bridge crosses the dam at the swimming beach.

Swimming beach

We stopped at the swimming beach because we knew that there was a restroom in this area. Unfortunately, the restroom was closed. There weren’t any restroom facilities at Beartown Rocks, so we decided not to go there this trip. We opted to go to Iron Mountain Grille, located a few miles away in Clarington, to make use of its restroom and have a late lunch.

Iron Mountain Grille

We learned about this restaurant from one of my high school classmates (Thank you, Rick!), who lives in the area and had recently eaten there. We ordered chicken salads. Bob ordered a buffalo chicken salad. I ordered a grilled chicken salad. The salads came with French fries and a bread stick. The salads were fresh and of a size suitable for a meal. The fries were crispy and hot. The bread sticks were served fresh out of the oven. Our meals tasted delicious and were reasonably priced. Service was good too. If the opportunity presents itself, we would eat there again.

After lunch we continued along Route 36 to Cooksburg, where we turned right onto River Road. We drove along the Clarion River to Route 899, onto which we turned left, and made our way back into Marienville. From Marienville, we continued on our way back home to Warren.

A Sunday Drive

Bob and I went on a Sunday drive through two state parks: Clear Creek State Park and Cook Forest State Park. Before we began our drive, though, we enjoyed a hearty “all you can eat” breakfast at The Farmers Inn in Sigel, Pennsylvania.

Here are some of the things that we saw, while on our drive.

Big boulders that begged to be climbed
(Beartown Rocks in Clear Creek State Park)

Black Labrador dog playing in Clear Creek
(Clear Creek State Park)

Seneca Point Overlook
(Cook Forest State Park)

A photograph of myself that I actually like 🙂
(Seneca Point Overlook in Cook Forest State Park)

Fire tower
(Cook Forest State Park)

We saw Mountain Laurel in both parks.

Our Saturday Drive

What a lovely week it was! I’m happy that we had the opportunity to enjoy the lovely weather this past Saturday. We drove to Benezette, PA, which is located an approximate 1 1/2-hour drive from our house. The purpose of a trip to Benezette was to visit the recently opened Elk Country Visitor Center.

We made two stops prior to arriving at the visitor center.

The Cross

Our first stop was along Mt. Zion Road, near Benezette, where we walked through a small wooden gate and walked across the field to this cross. There is a sweeping view of the countryside from the cross.

Mt. Zion Road becomes Gray Hill Road, as you continue into Benezette. Shortly after turning left onto Route 555, we saw three bull elk at a campground.

The first two bull elk that we saw.

The third bull elk that we saw.

After admiring these three elk, we continued to the Elk Country Visitor Center. We arrived at the visitor center shortly before its 9:00 AM opening time.

Elk Country Visitor Center

While at the visitor center, we watched a 4D theater presentation about the elk herd in Benezette. We experienced our first snowflakes while watching the multimedia presentation! We walked all three trails, which led to overlooks where elk may be seen. All three trails were short and easy to walk. We didn’t see any elk at the visitor center. We spent a couple hours at the visitor center. If we could have found more to do in the area, we would have stayed around until dusk. As it turned out we didn’t find anything to do in Benezette, so we started our drive back home. We made a few stops on our way back home.

We ate a late breakfast at the Hilltop Diner, located about 5 miles outside of St. Marys. Breakfast was a leisure affair; it was close to noon when we left Hilltop Diner.

We stopped at Straub Brewery in St. Marys, where Bob enjoyed a complimentary 5-6 oz. drink from the Eternal Tap.

Bob took this picture of the Eternal Tap.

We stopped at Clear Creek State Park, at Beartown Rocks. The main attraction at Beartown Rocks is the collection of enormous rocks and rock/tree formations.