Hiking Evansburg State Park: A Beautiful Creek-Side Hike

Winter Hike: Come along as we hike the Skippack Creek Loop Trail. The snow and ice made this a bit of a dicey hike, but we were able to enjoy a warm day in March!

Evansburg State Park is a hidden gem in south eastern Pennsylvania. This park offers hiking, biking and horse trails as well as other opportunities for outdoor activities!

It was a randomly warm day in March when my husband Brian and I decided to get over our cabin fever and go for a hike. We packed up our gear (just the basics since it was a short hike) and Luna (our yellow lab) and off we went!

I usually research ahead of time what trail to do and this state park was no different. We decided on the Skippack Creek Loop Trail.

There’s about 250 feet of elevation gain on this hike, and the trail loops for 5 miles around the park. Plus Luna was able to enjoy some swimming in the Skippack Creek as well!

Come along on our adventure as we hike the Skippack Creek Trail!

Park Details

Where is Evansburg State Park?

Evansburg State Park is located in Collegeville Pennsylvania which is in Montgomery County. This is a popular state park for biking, horseback riding, fishing, hiking, and other activities.

If you are new to this state park, let’s jump right into the basic facts about the park!

Parking

Brian and I left our home and headed to the park after work on a warm March day. Luna was very lively in the back of my truck as she anxiously waited for us to arrive at Evansburg State Park.

We used Evansburg State Park Pavilion A, Collegeville, PA 19426 in our GPS to get there and it took us right to the trailhead.

The loop is clearly labeled and easy to follow!

Evansburg State Park: The Facts!

• Over 3,330 acres
• 10+ miles of hiking trails
• 5 miles of biking trails
• 15 miles of horse trails
• The Skippack Creek runs through the park

Trails

There are several trails for hikers in Evansburg State Park. If you are interested in the map of trails (as provided by Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources) you can find the map at this link – Evansburg State Park Map. If you want more info about the park, it can be found in the Evansburg State Park Recreational Guide.

There are several trails in this park, but these 5 are the most popular.

• Skippack Creek Loop Trail – 5 mile loop
• Mill Race Trail – 2.5 miles
• Evansburg Horse Trail – 8.5 miles
• Fern Avenue Loop Trail – 3 miles
• Old Farmstead Trail Loop – <1 mile

Brian and I only hiked the Skippack Loop Trail (plus a little of the Horse Trail, but I’ll get to that later).

Group Camping

There is group camping in Evansburg State Park! However it isn’t like most state parks in PA where you can just reserve on a website such as Reserve America.

You actually have to use the phone function on your phone and make a call. I know, how old school! Nevertheless, the phone number to call is 888-727-2757 and you can call Monday to Saturday, 7:00 AM – 5:00 PM (except on major holidays).

There are 18 sites where groups can camp with a maximum of 5 people per site. So if you are looking to group camp in Evansburg State Park, pick up your phone and make a reservation!

Alright, now that we have covered the basics, let’s get to our hike!

Our Hike

As I said previously, my husband and I left right after work and headed to Evansburg State Park. We had picked out the Skippack Creek Loop Trail ahead of time for the 5 mile distance of that hike. We figured it wouldn’t be too difficult to finish 5 miles before dark.

So we parked right at the trailhead and the beauty of this hike, is that it’s a loop! So you start and end at the same place.

The loop is clearly labeled, so we started by heading to the left. This is another perk of hiking at Evansburg State Park, there are clear signs and trail markers.

The snow melt had created a decent amount of mud on the trails and Luna was quite a mess within minutes of this hike. But she’s always a muddy mess when we take her hiking, so this wasn’t anything new.

As we headed down the slight hill, the trail flattened out and was comprised of long planks to keep us out of the mud. We appreciated this, as muddy boots make for heavy boots. But don’t worry, our mud puppy (as she has been deemed when we hike), did not miss the opportunity to be in the mud.

The trail then led us over a few old wooden bridges, into a wide open (and very muddy) field, which Luna loved, and then finally back to along the creek.

Creek-Side Hike

There are horse trails and hiking trails along the creek so look out for signs for hikers.

At this point the trail led us along the Skippack Creek – hence the name Skippack Creek Loop Trail – and we walked along the pebbly creek-side.

This was Luna’s favorite part of the trail! She loves to swim and the cold March water didn’t deter her from her love to swim and retrieve!

After Luna’s swimming session, we continued on the trail. The trail grew narrow and headed primarily uphill. While you are still along the creek, you are above the creek for almost the entire remainder of the hike.

Hiking on the Road

At this point, your hike is nearly halfway done, but you need to cross the creek to head back on the other side of the creek.

Unfortunately, in order to do this, you need to walk along a busy road, cross the bridge (which is shared with cars) until you can get back to the trail on the other side.

We all weren’t huge fans of this part of the “trail” considering that road-side hikes scattered with glass and trash definitely weren’t our first choice. But once we were back on the trail, we forgot about it and enjoyed the rest of the hike.

The Other Side of the Creek

As we hiked on the other side of the creek, we had a beautiful view of the old homestead that resides in Evansburg State Park. The view across the creek was stunning with the little bit of snow on the ground and the bare trees offering a clear view of the historic building!

The trail narrows and heads up along a ridge the runs parallel to the creek. It is a beautiful hike and we would definitely do this trail again. Especially since we didn’t quite finish the trail.

Ice and Darkness

As we hiked on, two things became abundantly clear

1. It was getting dark very quickly and we needed to hustle to get back to the truck before dark
2. This side of the trail didn’t get as much sun. So instead of mud, this part of the trail was icy!

The hardest part of hiking after work in the early spring, is that it still gets dark very early in the evenings. We had finished a hike in the dark earlier the week before at a local reserve. But at least we were close to the parking lot that time!

As you can see from the picture, the trail is high above the creek at this point. The creek is a straight drop away from you, down a steep cliff. So what we would normally identify as a really cool hike, turned treacherous just by adding ice.

As we hiked on and darkness was falling quickly, the trail grew steeper and icier. Our hiking turned into slipping and we soon were holding onto nearby trees for support so we didn’t fall! Brian had a close call at one point and we slowed to a snails pace.

This of course set us even further back from finishing the trail, and we quickly realized we weren’t even going to be close to getting back to the truck before dark.

So we called an audible.

Wet Feet in the Creek

The trail takes you in a loop around the creek, so we decided, once we got across from our truck, that we would cross the creek. Sure our feet would get wet but we wouldn’t be fearing a great fall in the dark either.

So a little ways further up the trail, we hiked down to the creek and found a shallow-ish place to cross. Our boots were soaked and the water was freezing! On a positive note, Luna didn’t seem to mind because it meant swimming again!

We then cut through the woods and picked up the horse trail that we were near. This led us up from the creek side and back to the truck.

As we dumped the remaining water from our boots in the dark, we realized we made the right decision! Sure it was cold and we were glad to get home to shower, but it was an adventure!

And isn’t the adventure why we hike in the first place? I will never forget this adventure while hiking in Evansburg State Park!

Final Thoughts

Hiking in Evansburg State Park made for a great evening and an even greater adventure! I would advise maybe not doing this hike in the winter, but even still, we enjoyed ourselves as we hiked along the Skippack Creek!

If you are in the area of aren’t sure if Evansburg State Park is worth it, I am here to tell you that it is! Any opportunity to hike along a pretty creek is enjoyable!

Looking for other great state parks in hike in? Check out my post about French Creek State Park as we hiked along Hopewell Lake.