If you’re in Philly and want to head out to nature, and assuming you want to stay in the state of Pennsylvania, you can either go west or north.

Today we’ll be covering the northern option. There are some nice lakes fairly close by, about 40 minutes from the border of Northeast Philadelphia.

Lake Galena is closer, but this post is on Lake Nockamixon.

All of these lakes (there are more to the northwest) are technically reservoirs, created by man damming the rivers that feed the Delaware.

You’re not allowed to swim in Nockamixon (which gets its name from a Lenape native American word.) But you can sail, either in your own boat or by renting one.

Single kayaks can be had for $30 for 1 hour or $45 for 2. There are many more options which you can find on the boat rental website. They even offer large pontoons capable of carrying many guests.

It seems like a good place to fish as well, and I’ll quote the succinct info Wikipedia offers:

Fishing from boats and the bank is popular, and common species include striped bass, walleye, pickerel, carp, largemouth and smallmouth bass, muskellunge, and catfish. 

Wikipedia, Lake Nockamixon

There’s a wilderness area around the lake that offers hiking and hunting.

During my hike I saw a goose and baby rabbit.

Where to Eat

Between Philadelphia and this area, there is the old Pineville Tavern that’s been in business since colonial times. Back when people rode on horses, the journey between New York City and Philadelphia called for a stop and this place was where the coach drivers would lodge.

I had the Snapper soup with a baked potato. Turtle soup used to be a haughty, popular dish in Europe (and therefore, America) before the green sea turtle’s population was decimated and international treaties were signed preventing their fishing.

Since green sea turtle soup is off limits, they offer snapping turtle soup. I forgot to take a picture, but it looks like a generic beef stew. There isn’t really any special taste to it, and honestly a beef stew would have tasted better. The snapping turtle meat doesn’t really taste like anything as far as I can tell, the stew mostly tasted something of clove / cinnamon / allspice.

Although my dish wasn’t rave worthy, the food the people next to me were getting looked great, they had a multi course of some kind of clam or mussel “fishcake” in the shells, a nice looking salad and an inviting half loaf of bread, followed by a course of chicken parmesan with spaghetti that looked very appetizing.

I think the course they had was being offered at $40 per person, while my bill came to around $20.