Summer is well underway in Ohio, and I have completed three of my six Great Lakes summer intentions. Over Memorial Day weekend, our family packed a picnic and took a day trip to Presque Isle State Park in Pennsylvania, under 90 minutes from Cleveland.

Pennsylvania doesn’t generally appear on the Great Lakes states list. The state’s shoreline is limited with 77 miles along Lake Erie between the Ohio and New York borders. The stretch is notable for two things – the city of Erie and the peninsula that juts out into the lake and has become Presque Isle State Park. 

Presque Isle starts four miles west of Erie and then arches like a scythe to the east, creating Presque Isle Bay on its southern shore. The peninsula’s protection enabled Erie to grow as a natural harbor. Almost all of the peninsula is now the state park and it has 13 miles of roads, 21 miles of recreational trails and 13 beaches.  

Our first stop was the Tom Ridge Environmental Center at the base of the peninsula. We ended up spending over an hour perusing the engaging exhibits.  

The center greatly impresses on you the fact that Presque Isle is in a constant state of geographic and ecologic change. Over time, winds and water have literally blown and pushed the land mass around. Now, of course, some of this change is monitored and managed. This was apparent once in the park when we reached an area off-limits near the North Pier with a gigantic mountain of sand and an official orange state construction sign that I somehow also found lightly charming: Beach Nourishment Underway

At the center I also learned about something I’ve never heard of before. There was a small exhibit with what looked like some broken tree branches inside. They were actually fossilized lightning, also known as fulgurite. On some occasions when lightning strikes the ground, it fuses soil, rock, and sediment together into a tube or clump. Nature’s answer to instant fossilization.    

We drove onto the peninsula. On the mainland it had been bright, sunny and warm; it was notably windier, cooler and foggier as we drove further out in the park. Beaches are sequentially numbered as you make your way out. We drove by the Presque Isle Lighthouse, a popular stop for a visit and photos. We drove by Sunset Point and there were colorful kites of all shapes and sizes, including inflatable ones (mini Macy’s Day balloons!), dancing around in the light fog.

Given the weather, we mostly enjoyed the park on foot, walking some of the trails, seeing the older houseboats that dot Horseshoe Pond, and peeking onto stretches of beach. There were wooded trails and the paved recreational trails that ran right along the shore. I would consider a return to the park some time with bikes; it would also be an ideal place for kayaking and a rewarding setting for birding.

The first weekend of June, I headed downtown on Saturday morning for local non-profit Drink Local Drink Tap’s annual 4 Miles 4 Water event. My parents were visiting that weekend and, wanting to get back to them quickly, I ended up walking the 1 mile event instead of running the 4. The event is very family-friendly and I resolved to return next year with a full team of family and friends.

This year I enjoyed the pre-race atmosphere and the Cuyahoga Riverfront in the early morning hours. It seemed both funny and entirely appropriate that against the backdrop of the DJ’s peppy soundtrack, a gigantic, aged laker ship was slowly navigating the curves of the river with the aid of a tugboat.

This post is dedicated to my mother-in-law Sue whose family has contributed over generations to the city of Erie, PA and who grew up going to the beaches on Presque Isle.