Hiking Lake Chillisquaque at the Montour Preserve (Washingtonville, PA) — May 2020

5 min readMay 30, 2020

Chilisuagi Trail and Ridgefield Point Loop Trail

Sometimes, you want a hike to be something that is easy, familiar, close by, and gets you out for a few hours of exercise without too much hassle. The kind of trail you can take anyone to, enjoy some of nature’s beauty, and have a picnic lunch afterwards. A place that is sneaker friendly, kid friendly, and “I don’t really hike often” friendly. The place that I have hiked the most on these kind of days is the Chilisuagi Trail at the Montour Preserve in Washingtonville, PA.

The Montour Area Recreation Commission maintains eight trails around its visitor center and Lake Chillisquaque, a lake that was built in 1972 to help cool the nearby Montour Power Plant. It has a history that is similar to that of the Susquehanna Riverlands, but features trails that offer far fewer signs of human development and activity. The Chilisuagi Trail, when combined with the short Ridgefield Point Loop, offers a 4.5 mile hike that can easily be completed in about two hours. There’s a lot to enjoy along the way.

The lake itself is certainly one of the main attractions of the hike. Many of the short side trails and open vistas along the lake are designed to highlight different views of the water, the loop trail takes you alongside some of the banks that are otherwise inaccessible, and one section of the trail travels across the top of the dam that borders one side of the lake and sits between the two major picnic areas. (You can see a map of the lake here.) The lake does allow fishing, so feel free to bring a pole.

If you are looking to learn as you hike, along the trail are a number of educational opportunities. There are about twenty informational signs (many placed at benches) that are designed to teach you about the flora and fauna around you, the history of the landscape, and the connection of the lake to the community around it. There is also a more kid-oriented section of the trail known as the “Planet Walk,” which features information about the solar system in a to scale distanced walk. (I can confirm that ten year olds still find signs that say “Uranus” to be comedy gold.)

While all of these aspects of the trail are quite nice, the highlight for me every time is the range of wildlife that I encounter. Aside from the geese, chipmunks, and squirrels that show up on almost every trip to the lake, I’ve also regularly seen Bald Eagles, herons, egrets, deer, frogs, fish, groundhogs, woodpeckers, songbirds, interesting insects, and a wide range of other flying, swimming, and crawling creatures. (There are signs alerting visitors to the possible presence of bears, too, though I have yet to see one.) The trail is not open to dogs or bicycles — so it very much feels like a little safe haven for Pennsylvania wildlife!

Lake Chillisquaque is a nice place to spend half a day or more. Once you are done your hike or picnic, it is worth stopping in to the visitor’s center. It offers a little museum that is geared towards kids (but interesting for adults), can be fully enjoyed in as little as 15–20 minutes, and is worth checking out. It is a popular spot for local schools’ field trips. The center regularly run free educational programming for all ages, and hey even put out some interesting things on their website meant to enhance your appreciation of the preserve, such as their newly launched “Nature Notes” audio shorts. You can tell that the people at MARC very much care about the work they’ve put into the preserve over the years and, in my opinion, their efforts make it one of the best places to visit in this corner of the state.

Beyond all of this, there are still more things to do at Lake Chilisquaque. It is a wonderful place for kayaking. There is a nearby fossil pit that offers an opportunity for trilobyte hunting. The other/shorter trails close to the visitor center all offer their own little perks (a lovely pond, a look at historical changes to the land, etc.). There are geocaches nearby, a playground near the picnic pavillions, and lots of opportunities for great photos.