Pennsylvania’s Goddard State Park is far enough away to not be on the radar of many Pittsburghers, but it’s close enough to be an easy and very enjoyable summer day trip.

It takes just a little more than an hour to make the 75-mile drive straight up Interstate 79 to the Mercer County park, the full name of which is Maurice K. Goddard State Park.

It’s named for the longtime (1955-70) secretary of the state Department of Forests and Waters who helped transform that into the Department of Environmental Resources (what’s now Department of Conservation and Environmental Resources). Wanting to create a state park within 25 miles of every Pennsylvanian, Goddard, before he retired in 1979, oversaw the creation of 45 of them.

Named for him, against his wishes, in 1969, this former Sandy Creek State Park is built around the 1,680-acre Lake Wilhelm (created by damming Sandy Creek), which is quite popular with boaters, paddlers and anglers, as well as waterfowl, bald eagles and ospreys. The lake is much longer and prettier than you might think if you’ve just glimpsed at the narrow part that I-79 traffic zooms across.

The pontoon boat-filled marina at Goddard State Park. (Bob BatzJr./Pittsburgh Union Progress)

Early Sunday morning, my wife and I parked at the marina, the building of which is under construction, but there’s a temporary trailer where you still can rent pontoon boats and kayaks and electric bikes. We picked up a great DCNR map brochure.

We’d planned a walk on the John C. Oliver (the first DCNR secretary) Multipurpose Loop Trail, a paved route that goes all around the lake for 12 miles.

A wildflower — perhaps scarlet beebalm? — at Goddard State Park. (Bob Batz Jr./Pittsburgh Union Progress)

We only wanted to get a taste for it, so we covered about 2.5 miles out and then back on the south shore, a stretch that is nicely shaded by a fern-floored forest.

The sandstone foundation of an old springhouse at Goddard State Park. (Bob Batz Jr./Pittsburgh Union Progress)
Watercress in the waters of a spring at Goddard State Park. (Bob Batz Jr./Pittsburgh Union Progress)

Then we drove over to the north shore to hike the 0.7-mile Falling Run Nature Trail, which includes the foundation of an old springhouse and its watercress-filled spring and lovely views of Falling Run that falls steeply down to the lake through a cool hemlock forest.

Sunny skies sparkle on the surface of the tannic waters of Falling Run at Goddard State Park. (Bob BatzJr./Pittsburgh Union Progress)
Rays of sun get through the hemlock trees and strike Falling Run at Goddard State Park. (Bob BatzJr./Pittsburgh Union Progress)

There are many other places in the vicinity that one could visit, such as nearby (about a mile) Wilhelm Winery (and wine-making museum), but we backtracked to the county seat of Mercer, where we much enjoyed an epic late lunch with the carved wooden yeti on the outdoor covered “terrace” at Talbot’s Taproom.

A snifter of a big Voodoo Brewery IPA with the big carved yeti on the terrace of Talbot’s Taproom in Mercer. (Bob BatzJr./Pittsburgh Union Progress)
A half rack of baby back ribs with aged white cheddar mac and broccoli kohlrabi summer slaw at Talbot’s Taproom & Terrace in Mercer. (Bob BatzJr./Pittsburgh Union Progress)
A (cherry smoked) bologna pep and egg sandwich (with pimento cheese) and a side of broccoli kohlrabi summer slaw at Talbot’s Taproom & Terrace in Mercer. (Bob BatzJr./Pittsburgh Union Progress)

It was so exceptionally good we know that we’ll be back, perhaps to bike or with more time to walk around the entire lake.

The weekend of Aug. 10 looks to be an exceptionally good one at the park. That Saturday the Friends of Goddard are throwing a Music at the Marina festival and on Sunday night, there’s a park naturalist-led Perseid Meteor Shower Paddle. Nature’s fireworks!

Goddard State Park is about 75 miles north of Pittsburgh on Interstate 79. (Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources)

For more information on the state park: https://www.dcnr.pa.gov/StateParks/FindAPark/MauriceKGoddardStatePark/Pages/default.aspx.

For the park calendar: https://events.dcnr.pa.gov/maurice_k_goddard_state_park/calendar.

For more information about Mercer County: https://www.visitmercercountypa.com.

And here’s Talbot’s: https://www.talbotstaproom.com.

Bob Batz Jr.

Bob, a feature writer and editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, is currently on strike and serving as interim editor of the Pittsburgh Union Progress. Contact him at bbatz@unionprogress.com.

Bob Batz Jr.

Bob, a feature writer and editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, is currently on strike and serving as interim editor of the Pittsburgh Union Progress. Contact him at bbatz@unionprogress.com.