Stonelick State Park - Take Two

Stonelick State Park - take two. This was the first park that we ever "officially" went to and was the start of our state park adventures.

We are working on building up our endurance. We also wanted to revisit parks closer by to our house while we make weekend plans to visit parks farther away.

I have heard AMAZING reviews for West Branch State Park Campground, so if you are a travel trailer traveler then definitely check that campground out!

Now, we were between two different trails that we have not hiked on at this park and we ended up on Southwoods Trail which really should be renamed the trail of MANY bridges. I think we counted 6 or 7 bridges in this short .8 mile trail. Now, including the walk to the car and traveling on the trail both ways, the boys did really good for about a 2 mile hike. Which has been the longest we have done so far. Our goal is a 2 mile hike this year without me dragging B the last half mile. We failed this round and forgot to bring the carrier!

So, our field journal for this park was really our interpretation of the trail versus what the map shows. It was fun and HILLY which you also can't see on the map, but the boys enjoyed going "up the hill" and "down the hill" while "attacking" daddy with hugs. The map above shows what it felt like on the left, which was curvy and hilly and the map on the right was how it was depicted on the park map.

Across our very first bridge on our trail (within the first minute) we found signs of animals, a BAT BOX! Okay, so we only know about this cool box because of a show our family loves "Wild Kratts" and really anything on PBS in my book is a winner, they are truly educational shows. Anything on "Youtube" can just be deleted, not a fan. "A Bat in the Brownies" is the 36th episode of Season 1 of Wild Kratts, originally airing on PBS Kids on October 24, 2011. There are over 8 seasons of Wild Kratts and you learn a ton of information on geography and animals. One of the things that we enjoyed about the show is that it showed you how to make a bat box, pictured below.

Etsy Blueprint

Walmart Bat Box in a Box

Bat Box DIY

To Install: Position the front of the bat house so that it’s facing south. If you google it online you will find a ton of pre-made and plans for building a bat box. You can also just take inspiration and build your own design.

We don't only look at the ground or eye level, we also look to the skies! E was clever and found WAY up in the sky a birds nest. We couldn't decide what type of bird was living there, but E needed some assistance not falling backwards as he looked WAY WAY up in the sky.

The trail of many bridges as I called it was a fun adventure for the boys. Usually we look for animals, plants, sticks or rocks but this was the first #guentheradventures that we ended up on a bridge hunt. We are loving our outdoor adventuring.