August 11, 2007

Peace Valley, Bucks County

Two Days at Lake Galena

(shot with Sony DSC-S85)
(Day 2 at Lake Galena)

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Another popular boating destination in Bucks County is Lake Galena,
a reservoir formed behind a dam on the North branch of the
Neshaminy Creek.



Actually, there is some identity ambiguity: It's Peace Valley
and Peace Valley Park. The map above calls it Peace Valley Reservoir.
And there's New Galena, a village or town. So is it Lake Galena
or is it Peace Valley Lake? I don't know.

I stopped there on the 11th of August to see what it had to offer.
My first stop was the Peace Valley Nature Center.



This earth-friendly composting, solar building serves
as information center, public education space and
park administrative building.


The Nature center has a number of foot and bike trails.





Solar collectors on the back of the Solar House, as visible
from the nature trail.





Turtles, so plentiful when I was growing up that we would
find them moseying through the back yard, are now an
endangered species in Pennsylvania.





The recreational part of the lake is concentrated at its
extreme other end. This lets man and animal co-exist in peace.














Here is a remnant of a colonial-era rock quarry.
There are quite a number of quarries through the
middle of Bucks County.





These views from the dam show the mass of backed-up water.








And here's the outflow, into Neshaminy creek.


This area along the north edge of the lake is where locals
store their boats.













(Proceed to Day 2 at Lake Galena)


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