Core Creek County Park

Phone: 215-757-0571.

Core Creek, spread across 1,200 acres, is Bucks' second largest county park and is home to Parks Department administration building. (The largest county park is Peace Valley.)

Core Creek's centerpiece is the 156 acre reservoir, "Lake Luxembourg." Seasonal water activities include boating, fishing and ice skating. Canoes, kayaks and paddle boats can be rented lakeside. There are two boat launches and four fishing piers. Permits are required.

There are trails galore; horseback riding, hiking, biking, jogging, and just plain strolling.

If the serene lake and woods are too "calm" for you, the park offers ball fields, play fields, basketball courts and tennis courts.

Hungry from all that exercise? Make use of pavilions, picnic tables and grills at various locations throughout the park. Restrooms as well.

Parking on our weekday, cloudy-sky visit was plentiful, but we suspect that sunny weekends may be a different story. You might check with the park office for advice on the patronage volume at various times, or, just get out early.

Notable landmark, St Mary's hospital, a portion of the park on the west side. Primary park entrances are from Tollgate Road on the northern side and Bridgetown Pike on the southern end.

A number of residential neighborhoods share a park borderCore Creek Estates, Sunny Hill, Silver Lake at Newtown, and Lakeview Estates) with others immediately on the opposite side of the parks bordering roads and/or nearbyFlowers Mill, Old Mill Woods, Strawberry Ridge, Heaton's Mill, Luxemburg Estates, Swan Pointe, and Eagles Mere).

"At Home" in Core Creek Park

June 2002

Grey skies on a Tuesday afternoon didn't keep some anglers away, nor me. This gem of a park is headquarters for the Bucks County parks system. A restored nineteenth-century farmhouse serves as the headquarters office. The terrain is comprised of gently rolling hills with woods, grassy fields, and bike/hike paths. The focal point of the park is Lake Luxembourg offering boating, fishing, and ice-skating.

As I sat at a picnic table within close proximity to the lake, the peaceful environment on this day was conducive for quiet contemplation. It didn't take long for my mind to wander. Like the rippling waves on the water surface, my thoughts were in motion.

If I had been dropped from the sky blindfolded to that spot, I would never have guessed that this park was surrounded by the hustle and bustle of highway arteries. From where I sat I could see across the lake a splendid wooded view. It was at that moment that I was suddenly "back home"...not where I reside now, but back to rural central Pennsylvania...visions of sitting on my parent's rear porch looking in the distance at the lush wooded hillside. I experienced that same safe, carefree feeling that I remember having in my childhood backyard.

Speaking of backyards, some fortunate homeowners enjoy daily views of the scenic park. Their properties border Core Creek Park offering various views of the lake and more, depending on their location ... from unobstructed panoramas to glimpses here and there. I can imagine a sleepy-eyed early riser, stretching in front of a window, gazing at a pastoral winter scene, unsure for just the briefest moment if perhaps s/he hadn't awaken inside a picture postcard.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the residents of the park ... yes, a multitude of them ... the waterfowl. Ducks and geese roamed freely and they didn't mind a bit that for a while I was "at home" with them.

I left the park with a sense that nature prevailed and I was fortunate on this afternoon to experience a "living place" that echoed silent words in the canyons of my mind, just like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, "There's no place like home."