Keystone State Park: Lake

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Keystone Lake offers boating, fishing, and swimming, and in the winter, even ice skating. The lake was constructed around 1909 by the Keystone Coal and Coke Company. They used the water in a coal washing facility about two miles away. It wasn't until 1945 that the lake was transferred to the Pennsylvania Bureau of State Parks, and since then, it has provided recreational benefits to all of its visitors.

Keystone Lake 

Only a few cattails were still standing in this patch near the shore of the lake.

Keystone Cattail

Keystone State Park: Mountain

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Keystone State Park covers 1,200 acres of southwestern Pennsylvania, including 8 miles of hiking trails and a 78-acre lake. I was surprised by how steep some of the trails are. By the time I reached the top of the first mountain, I was ready to stop and watch the sun setting through the trees.

Keystone Sunset

Near the hiking trail ran this set of power lines. It was amazing how the trees had been cleared to form a pathway that was followed by the power lines up one side of a mountain and down the other.

Wires

Laurelville Mennonite Church Center

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Southwestern Pennsylvania abounds with hilly terrain, shady forests, and winding streams. On a trip to this area of Pennsylvania, I visited one place that has all of these, along with good hiking trails: Laurelville Mennonite Church Center. There were already leaves budding out on the forest plants, despite the recent sprinkling of snow.

Laurelville

Creation Museum: Christmas Lights

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 My evening at the Creation Museum ended with another tour of the gardens, this time with a sea of bright Christmas lights shining in the darkness. It seemed like every tree was a shimmering pillar of illumination, amplified and reflected by the still water of the lake.

Glistening Foliage

Colors ranging from pink to green to gold decorated trees, walkways, and bridges around the elaborate maze of gardens.

Glowing Trees

 

Doubling the brilliance of the decorations was the placid lake, which mirrored all lights in its range. The purple spiral below is on one side of the lake, while the reflected lights are across it.

Reflected Brilliance

Creation Museum: Petting Zoo

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In addition to the lake and gardens, the Creation Museum features a petting zoo that houses many friendly animals. One of the most spectacular species was this peacock. When the sun caught its feathers, it looked like a glowing rainbow of multicolored gold.

Peacock

Nearby stood this white llama. With its friendly face and plush fur, it looks like a docile teddy bear. However, visitors who find themselves in the pen may soon find out that llamas are known to kick when upset.

White Llama

Another furry creature was this young kangaroo. It spent its time hopping around and basking in the sunshine.

Kangaroo

Finally, another pen contained a small herd of sheep and goats. Goats have a tendency to escape from any enclosure in which they are housed, and the goat below looks like it is trying to do so. Maybe the no climbing sign should have been on the other side of the fence.

White Goat

Creation Museum: Gardens

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Surrounding the lake was a scenic garden featuring plants from all parts of the world. Equally impressive was the large variety of bridges. The one in this picture is a simple wooden arch bridge with low, arched railings.

 Arched Bridge

In contrast, the bridge pictured below uses the more common straight design. However, its interesting use of light posts as part of the railing makes it unusual.

Lighted Bridge

Creation Museum: Lake

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The landscaping outside the Creation Museum is just as impressive as the interior exhibits. A two-acre lake just outside the museum provides a home for fish and allows visitors who fall off the overhead zip line to land with a splash.

 Reflection 

Another feature of the lake, this picturesque bridge, bears a striking resemblance to a bridge in Monet's famous flower garden.

 Monet's Bridge

This suspension bridge was one of the more popular spots in the garden for wildly jumping up and down. The rocking motion also simulated a storm at sea.

Rocking Bridge