This started because I found out there was an Almost Heaven Swing at Poor House Farm Park, only about 18 miles away. Not a long drive on a sunny Sunday morning. Poor House Farm Park is a few miles off Hwy 81, outside of Martinsburg, WV, in Berkeley County, in the Eastern Panhandle. The swing is a few months old, the third one now in the Panhandle, with one in each of the three counties that make it up.
To find the park:
233 Almshouse Road
Martinsburg, WV
25403
It is a county-owned park and is free to use. Once you drive in, head to the pond, where there is ample parking near the barn (if it is a busy weekend, there are other parking areas). Once parked, facing the lake, walk around the right side of the barn, on a paved path. The swing is visible.
Yet I was shocked by how awesome the Poor House Farm is. It is huge. It has a lot to offer. Hiking, biking, really cool playgrounds, historical homes, a pond (lake), and a creek. I showed up thinking it would be like Rumsey Monument in Jefferson County, where I could wear summer shoes. I will be back to hike a lot more of this park once fall weather starts creeping in.
Tuscarora Creek is in the background, with many friendly ducks paddling around.
Benches, picnic tables, and bridges across the creek are sprinkled around.
The park sits nestled in a valley, the North Mountain Ridge visible as you sit on the swing. North Mountain is a low ridge, with Back Creek on the other side. Now I have been on both sides.
After doing whatcha do at the swings, I looked around. I had seen a map of the park’s trails online; it is popular with mountain bikers. There was a loop around the pond, and it wasn’t long, but hey…it was in the SHADE most of the way. How can you pass that up south of the Mason-Dixon Line? You don’t.
Take me home. This valley just is sublime in its beauty.
The ducks would come running across the water if you stayed still.
Take a quick right – you might like it.
Tuscarora Creek. It was so quiet in here, with just birds and the water. I saw only one mosquito the entire time. A low bug and barely humid hike? My stars.
Just past the bridge is a Nature Playground hidden in the forest. This place is beyond cool.
Back on the trail, it appears something likes turtles here.
The path here ends at another parking area. You can take a separate path along the other side of the pond, which is sometimes locked (there are gates on each end) when events are going on. A gazebo sits out on the pond, and another dock sits nearby.
Marsh Marigold.
I headed up across the lawn instead, because I wanted to see the springhouse from the early 1800s.
The farm was established in the 1850s. The Poor House dates back to before the Revolutionary War; the 1850 purchase was to build a place for people.
The lake is a modern addition – it was built in 1997 and opened in 1999. It is fishable, but no swimming (one has to wonder how many snappy turtles live in it….)
Simply beautiful.
I will definitely plan on returning to hike more here.
~Sarah