Prompton State Park: Hikes, Disc Golf & Nature
Explore Prompton State Park as Jim hikes, plays disc golf, and chats with a nature author.
JIM: We are still exploring state parks in the Poconos. This is Prompton State Park in my backyard of Wayne County. It’s got hiking, mountain biking, boating, fishing, and yes—an 18-hole disc golf course. So, my buddy Dan and I from Northeast Wilderness Experience are going to go play some disc golf here as we explore Prompton State Park.
Whether it’s the trails, the falls, or the clanking chains of the 18-hole disc golf course at Prompton State Park, they all lead back to one place—Prompton Dam. A flood control dam managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the big reason for this state park in the first place, providing a place to paddle or cast a line. Prompton Lake spans 290 acres.
To find out what makes this park special, we enlisted friends for some disc golf, a sit spot with nature, and a quick hike with a worthwhile payoff. First up: park manager Lee Dillon.
Lee Dillon – Park Manager
Jim: What is it about Prompton State Park that lets people recreate here—mountain biking, hiking, fishing, all the like?
Lee: Prompton is just a beautiful, kind of unknown spot in the Poconos. The visitation isn’t huge, which is not a bad thing. It’s got an incredible system of almost twenty miles of trails along the upper side. Great for mountain biking—they can be a little bit strenuous in some cases—but if you’re looking for a good, adventurous hike, this is the spot.
We made our way along the trails on the north end of the park in early spring, before the green leaves and growth return for the warm season. Which is a good enough time to remind everyone: anywhere, including Prompton, wear life jackets when out on the water.
Lee Dillon: Anytime you’re on the water, the thing that we’re going to just continue to say and say and say is: be safe out there. This one is a little different than some of our lakes, as it is Army Corps—so before coming out, you need to make sure you’re checking the Army Corps regulations because they are a little bit different.
Jim and Lee:
Jim: Now we’re reaching our destination here at the waterfalls along the Sidewinder Trail. If you can hear the rush of water here in the spring months—this is really the time of year where you want to get up here.
Lee: Absolutely. In the spring months, everything is coming back to life. The water’s flowing good. We get into June and July, things start to dry out a little bit. I don’t know that they ever completely stop, but they definitely slow down.
Slowing down and soaking it all in is just what local author John Harvey had in mind when he set out a few years back to spend an hour a week in the woods here at Prompton—listening, watching—for his first of two books, The Stillness of the Living Forest: A Year of Listening and Learning.
Jim and John:
Jim: Hey John, thank you for joining me today.
John: Well, I’m really glad to be here. I’m glad to share this experience with you.
Jim: Let’s go sit for a while.
John: Okay. All right. Great idea.
Jim: You’ve done this before.
John: Yes.
John led us to the water’s edge, across the lake from the exact “sit spot” where he documented days and experienced the shifting seasons.
John Harvey – Author:
Jim: You were there for all four seasons?
John: Yes, that was one of the highlights, I’m sure—because I realized that there’s more than four seasons. In fact, almost every week was a season or a new look at how a season unfolds.
John – Reading Excerpt:
“The shift occurred early on a beautiful spring morning in May. Above me, a full canopy of new minty green leaves blanketed the branches and treetops. Around me, the woodland shrubs—honeysuckle, red osier dogwood, and wild blueberry—were laden with new green growth. The ferns, grasses, jewelweed, and garlic mustard stood tall upon the forest floor. The sunrise bird song chorus was in full swing: warblers, catbirds, robins, and crooks.”
As fate would have it, John Harvey and his nephew were behind the design of the Prompton Lake disc golf course—a popular one at that.
Dan Corrigan – Northeast Wilderness Experience:
It’s a big-arm course. It’s well laid out—concrete tee pads, multiple hole options, beautiful scenery, lots of options too. They have pavilions for picnicking, picnic tables all around—so you can make a day at Prompton State Park.
Dan and Jim:
Jim: Now we’ve got hole number two—Davy Jones’ Locker. You’ve played here before. Is it enjoyable?
Dan: I’ve lost a lot of discs in this hole. Absolutely. This is one that eats them up pretty good. Over the years, they’ve changed it a bit. It was always a hook down around to the left, right by the water’s edge, which we’ll see in a little bit. But they’ve added in the intermediate basket for a more approachable shot. Still, if you get a good loft on this one, you can easily lose a disc in the water. And the woods also like to eat a lot of discs.
Dan: I’m gonna see what happens with this.
Jim: All right.
Dan: Oh—right on the wood line. Right on the wood line. Just where it always goes. That was cooking real good there, guys.
Jim: All right, here we go.
Dan: Let’s see what you got—good loft here.
Jim: You like left too. That’s cooking left. We’re off the tee box, folks, and we’re not wet yet. We’ll see you down on the hill.
Dan and Jim:
Jim: First hole’s down—no lost discs on this one.
Dan: We did good this time.
Jim: We have a few more holes to go. Played a little cautiously too, which is good.
This is a great exercise sport, right? Out on the physical terrain, enjoying the scenery. We just saw a heron flying over the lake, some cloud cover today—not too hot.
Dan: A little breeze, but the breeze might catch one of these. Disc golf is a great challenge—also great for beginners or people who want to expand. This course? It’s like a wind tunnel. When it’s up a little, it rips through here and creates another element of challenge.
The disc golf course winds its way through part of the park, up along the dam, even into some tough terrain—part of what makes Prompton a park worth exploring.
Dan: I’m so thankful to have it here—and it continues to grow.
Thanks for exploring Prompton State Park with us.