Pennsylvania is not a state you think of for a day at the seashore, but Presque Isle State Park makes the case anyway. It is a sandy peninsula that curls out into Lake Erie just west of the New York line, with eleven beaches, two lighthouses, a War of 1812 monument, and a flat paved bike loop that hugs the water the whole way around. From our site at Motorcoach Resort Lake Erie Shores in Geneva-on-the-Lake, it runs about 75 minutes east. Juneaux sat this one out in the air conditioning back at the coach, since the plan for the day was bikes.
The plan that did not go to plan
The idea was simple. Unload the eBikes from the back of the truck, ride the full loop, stop at the sights along the way. We got to the park, unloaded the e-bikes, powered them up, and found out the batteries were not fully charged. I was sure we had charged them after our last ride on the Virginia Creeper Trail down in Damascus. We had not. These are heavy machines, ours run about 64 pounds each, and a dead battery turns one into a very awkward regular bicycle. We were not going to gamble on running out of charge halfway around a peninsula in that heat, so we rode about 6.5 miles, took in a good stretch of the shoreline and several of the stops, and then went back to the truck to finish the rest of the loop on four wheels. Out of the lakefront breeze it was brutally hot, which made the call an easy one.
The ride
The bike path is the Karl Boyes Multi-Purpose Trail, a 13.5-mile paved, flat, ADA-accessible loop that runs the full perimeter of the peninsula. At an easy pace the full loop runs most riders somewhere between 60-90 minutes of actual riding time back to where you parked, and longer once you factor in stopping for the beaches and the monument. If the whole thing feels like too much, there are cut-off points across the interior that let you shorten it. Our 6.5 miles ran along the bay side of the peninsula, with Presque Isle Bay on one side the entire way and the Erie skyline standing up across the water. We started about midway out and rode toward the point where downtown sits straight across the harbor, and the battery situation turned us around before we could go farther. Even the shorter stretch was excellent, flat the whole way with almost no elevation to fight.
Perry Monument
The Perry Monument sits on Misery Bay, an 80-foot limestone column that commemorates Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry and the 1813 Battle of Lake Erie. That fight was a War of 1812 naval battle in which Perry's American squadron defeated a British fleet to give the United States control of Lake Erie, and much of that American fleet was built right here on the peninsula. There are bike racks and restrooms right there, which makes it a natural stop along the loop. Our timing was not great. The monument was under construction when we came through, roped off so you could not walk up close, and the equipment around the base took away from both the feel of the place and any clean photo of it. It is worth seeing, but I would check whether the work is finished before you plan a shot around it.
Presque Isle Lighthouse
Built in 1872, the Presque Isle Lighthouse is 78 steep steps to the top. I shot it from the outside and left it at
that. It was hot, I had already put in the bike miles, and a stack of stairs in that heat held no appeal. The lighthouse photographs well from the ground anyway, tucked back among the trees with the keeper's house (now a gift shop and museum) beside it.
North Pier Lighthouse
Out at the channel you will find the North Pier Lighthouse, the black-and-white light standing on the pier near the Coast Guard station. This is the spot for boat-watching. The mouth of the bay funnels everything coming and going, and if you catch a freighter moving through, it makes a great frame.
Tom Ridge Environmental Center
Here is the one I missed and wish I had not. The Tom Ridge Environmental Center, or TREC, sits right at the entrance to the park. It is free to enter and has a 75-foot observation tower with an elevator, which gives you the wide establishing view of the whole peninsula. I did not know it was there until after the fact. I am not sure how I missed it! If you want the big-picture shot of Presque Isle, start here before you drive out onto the penninsula.
The beaches
Presque Isle has eleven beaches strung along its Lake Erie side, and on a hot day they fill right up. Beaches 6, 8, and 10 are the popular swimming stretches, and Sunset Point out near the tip is where people gather in the evening for the show over the water. It was hot enough that the water was full of people swimming, wading, and lounging.
Beer in Erie
By the time we left the peninsula, we had earned a meal. A full day of riding and sightseeing in that heat leaves you hungry, thirsty, and ready for some air conditioning, and Erie delivered on all three. The brewery scene had a couple of good places. I went hunting for a beer called Vandelay Industries, an Imperial IPA at Voodoo Brewing that is highly rated, and, as a Seinfeld fan, one I could not pass up on the name alone. They were out of it when I came through, which
was a letdown, but the rest of the lineup was good. The kitchen was the real find. Voodoo fries in beef tallow and it made for excellent wings and some of the best fries I have had in ages. I do not usually even order fries, and these were worth breaking the rule for.
The better beer of the day was at Lavery Brewing. They had an excellent selection of hazy IPAs and a coffee stout called Ulster: Papua New Guinea that was outstanding. If you point yourself at one brewery in Erie for the beer itself, make it this one.
Before you go
A few things worth knowing. During a holiday week the park is packed, so get there early for both parking and the good morning light. Gull Point at the eastern tip is a restricted bird-nesting area from April through November, so stay on the trail surface through that stretch. And if your day runs on eBikes, charge them the night before. I can tell you from experience that finding out at the trailhead is not the way to do it.
Presque Isle turned out to be one of the better day trips off our Lake Erie Shores base, dead battery and construction fencing and all.
