Route: Blue Marsh Lake Circumnavigation (PA)

Location
Pennsylvania, US
Distance
28.4 km
Vertical Gain
700 m
Description

Shaun Luther proposed the route:

Blue Marsh Lake is a man made lake just NW of Reading PA. It is very popular with trail runners due to the approximately 30 miles of marked trail that generally follows the shoreline around the lake. For many years local runners have debated what is the fastest way to get around the lake. This FKT attempt puts a stake in the ground for future (I’m sure) much faster attempts that may use alternate routes that still conform to the following guidelines.

Guidelines used to determine this route and future routes
No swimming. No portion of the lake or tributary streams was crossed that could not be either hopped across or waded across. This eliminates from route consideration the large bridges on Rt 183. Exceptions: The bridge on N. Heidleberg Rd at the very north end of the lake. Mainly because to find a place to ford Northkill Creek and Tulpehocken Creek/Union canal above the bridge would force you to trespass on private property. 
No trespassing. This route was either on park property, State Gameland property, or public roads. This also takes out for route consideration going across the dam at Stilling Basin that is posted with No Unauthorized Personnel signs all over it. Also the Old Dry Road Farm property may be out of play. Some maps show it as part of the park other show it as a separate entity. There are periodically No Trespassing signs up on the property. I avoided it just because it’s status is unclear.

GPS Track

Comments

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Setting out to get a woman on the board!! 

Great run, Katy. Great minds think alike. I'm gonna take a stab at this tomorrow. Sounds like navigation is the tricky part!