US-1404 Promised Land SP
I carry a bear horn in my pack, but honestly I think it might be more of an advertisement for a bear snack than any sort of deterrent.
I was on a POTA rove and the weather just wasn't cooperating. I'd headed south from my QTH near Providence, Rhode Island on a trip to visit friends in North Carolina and Connecticut, and the plan was to spend a few weeks on the road activating parks along the way.
You might recall the winter storm in January of 2025 that brought polar temperatures and eight inches of snow to places like Houston, Texas and Tallahassee, Florida. It was still a few days out when I left home and my thought was that it'd be chilly, but not that cold, and that was the case for the first half of the trip into New York and New Jersey, then down the DelMarVa peninsula into Virginia and North Carolina. By the time I'd crossed North Carolina from the coast to the mountains and into Roanoke things had turned for the worse, and I ended up hunkering down in Roanoke for a few days. Roanoke is home to a large pinball museum at Market Square, and I spent most of the afternoon playing classic pins, what could be better!
It didn't look like the weather was warming up any time soon, and I decided to skip the parks along the Blue Ridge Parkway that I'd planned to work and instead repositioned to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania with plans to do one more activation and then head for a visit to W1AW to hunt POTA, have lunch with a nearby friend, and then head home.
I woke to a bright day and a forecast high of 20 degrees and pulled up the POTA Map to see what was along the route to Newington. US-1404 Promised Land State Park was just a few minutes off my route and about an hour away, and some research indicated that it would be a two-fer with US-5466 Delaware State Forest. It seemed like a gift, and I clicked 'Get Directions' and pointed the car east.
Promised Land is mostly about the lake at its center, with trails ringing it. It's a favorite destination for campers, and there are at least some camp sites available year-round, and also twelve 1930s-era cabins that may be rented. The much larger Delaware State Forest encompasses the park and offers quite a bit of camping and RV facilities. The web site for the park notes that there are a few hundred private cabins in the forest and park on leased land, so be sure to approach any that you run across with respect for the owner's privacy.
The park is geared toward summer lake fun.
From the large parking lot, which is about a mile south from the highway, you can pick up one of several trailheads. There's a loop trail around the lake, but I chose the more intriguingly named 'Tree Tower Trail' which begins just across the street from the parking area.
There were three to four inches of snow on the ground during my visit, and I found a mix of trail conditions. For the most part the path is wide and had been 'groomed' by snowmobiles, making for easy passage. It's a popular park for snowmobilers and there are accommodations in many places for them, such as bridges over smallish streams. Other parts are more natural, and with the fresh snow it was often tough to figure out where the trail ran.
You'll find a mix of conditions in the winter. (L) A small bridge for snowmobiles; (R) cross trail through fresh snow.
Horseback riding is popular here, too, and though I saw only a few hoof prints along the trail, wow were there a lot of other critters! Large cat, deer, raccoon, and a big print I couldn't identify all presented themselves. One looked like the back foot of a smallish bear. I carry a bear horn in my pack, but honestly I think it might be more of an advertisement for a bear snack than any sort of deterrent.
Around two miles in I turned a corner and caught my first glimpse of one of the trail's namesakes, a tower looming in the tree line.
As I got closer I realized that I'd hiked into something of a horse camp – there were several shed-style stalls, a watering area, hitching posts, and the like. I learned from a couple who hiked by and stopped for a chat that there are rental cabins just on the other side of the hill from my approach. They thought I might be tracking animals with radio collars, which was a good guess.
The sheds were a godsend, a few were clear of snow and they offered a wide railing to set gear up on. I don't carry anything to sit on, since there's usually a convenient log or rock nearby, but the weather really was pushing the limit of my comfort – the previous operation at US-6901 Dover Bay State Game Land in North Carolina had been accomplished in light rain with me squatting in mud the entire time. I almost felt guilty about operating from such a nice spot this time.
I set up my EFHW for this activation, with the feed about 25 feet up in a tree next to the shed and the other end at about 15 feet above the ground. This was a longer span than I'm used to and I used every inch of the 100 feet of rope that I carry. I made a note to put an additional 50 feet of 0.4mm paracord in the pack for situations like this. I also carry a 17-foot wire and a counterpoise with me and in retrospect it might have been a better antenna for that spot.
If you were wondering, it's a water tower. I didn't try to load it up but it was tempting...
Propagation was not great this particular day, and even with the relatively large wire it was a slow crawl to just over 20 QSOs, all on 20m. I spend at least five minutes calling on each of the five bands that the antenna is resonant on (6, 10, 15, 20, and 40) when I activate, and normally I'll find at least one contact on each. Not this time, just crickets. Fortunately I'd brought a thermos of hot tea to keep me warm during the endless CQs.
I hiked out the way I'd come in, enjoying the late afternoon light playing through the pines onto the snow. I hadn't done a lot of winter hiking before getting obsessed with POTA and I am really appreciating the different challenges of being in the woods in cold weather. For this hike I wore layers of merino wool and fleece with a lightweight down puff and was comfortable the entire time. I also used merino sock inserts under my merino hiking socks for the first time and was happy to have them on.
This is a park I'd like to come back to for general hiking in the area. A cabin rental for a few days would give you close access to several spots in the Poconos, and if you're there in the summer there's also the lake to enjoy. There aren't any heart-shaped beds here, but who has time for sleep when there are so many parks to activate?
