Presque Isle State Park

If location is everything, Presque Isle State Park has it all.

The state park sits on a peninsula stretching into Lake Erie, giving it the only seashore in the state of Pennsylvania. Lounging on any of its 11 beaches is just one of the near-endless ways to explore this unique spot. The peninsula’s beautiful and decidedly varied geography makes it a local favorite destination for hiking, jogging, biking, inline skating, boating, cross-country skiing… and nature watching. It’s home to more of Pennsylvania’s endangered and rare species than anywhere else in the state. You might see a rare spotted turtle, or a piping plover, a small endangered bird at home in sandy terrain.

Presque Isle is actually made up of six distinct ecological zones: dunes; Lake Erie, the Bay, and shoreline; sand plains and new ponds; old ponds and marshes; climax, or mature, forest; and thicket and sub-climax forest. The park’s charms rotate with the seasons. Ice domes form on the Lake in January and February; wildflowers and aquatic flowers explode onto the scene in the warm-weather months. While you’re visiting, don’t forget to look up: The area is a birder paradise. Since it’s on the Atlantic Flyway, hundreds of types of birds drop by during their migration across Lake Erie. You might spot flocks of Tundra swans, which arrive in early spring on their way from the east coast to the Arctic, or majestic bald eagles in May and September.

If you love digging into local history, swing by the Presque Isle Lighthouse. Inside this circa-1873 square brick building is a curved interior tower you can climb. In fact, it’s still a working lighthouse, maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard.