Balsam Swamp is a sprawling state forest that stretches almost 5.5 miles east-west across 4 towns. The area is very rural, and the landscape surrounding the State Forest is predominantly forested. Balsam Swamp State Forest is comprised of a mix of native hardwood forests, hemlock swamps, and conifer plantations. There are no designated recreational trails on the forest, but there is ample opportunity for self-guided day hikes to explore the diversity of habitats represented on this State Forest. Additionally, the western section of Balsam Swamp State Forest is adjacent to Five Streams State Forest to the south.
The main attraction of this forest is Balsam Pond. The impoundment is approximately 152 acres and is a popular destination for fishing and paddle boat sports. Balsam Pond is a warm water fishery that contains a mix of largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, chain pickerel, yellow perch, brown bullhead and sunfish. Tiger muskellunge have been stocked in the past with the last stocking occurring in 1995. However, there have been very few reports of anglers catching any of the adult tiger muskies. A shallow gravel boat launch is suitable for launching small fishing boats.
A small rustic camp ground is also located at Balsam Pond. Camping spaces are available at no cost on a first-come, first-serve basis and there is no running water or electricity. A fire ring, outhouse, and picnic table are provided for each camping space. A sign on Balsam-Tyler Road in Pharsalia designates the entrance to the boat launch and camping facility. This is a carry-in carry-out facility. Please do not litter.
Love they neighbor, the roadside sign said in this era of hyper-partisanship. Maybe in the era of bigotry that exists as the prime alternative to technocracy that’s what we really need. Not politics but love and respect for our fellow man and nature alike.
I don’t own a television. I listen to subversive music all day from Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, Malvina Reynolds and Tom Paxton. Our country needs more subversion not less.
Some people I know think government is a force of good. But I’m not sure I agree. I think government may be necessary, and evil sometimes required, but still an evil. We should do everything in our power to shrink our government.
It’s kind of interesting how local people I have talked into in Maryland and Virginia – especially women – have Southern accents. In West Virginia, at least in the northern part, don’t have much of an accent or if they do its mostly a rural Midwestern accent as is common in much of Rural Upstate NY, especially the western part of the state.
The federal government will just become more and more ineffective with grid lock and states will start to do their own things. States will become more distinct in their policies, with blue states and red states relying more and more on Interstate compacts rather than the federal government. There actually is a lot of incentives for states to encourage people to freely relocate to states of their ideological persuasion, so the incumbent politicians can further cement their power and implement their desired policies.
Out for my evening walk I really was digging the cold on my face 🌕
It’s a beautiful cool moonlit evening tonight, so crisp like many autumn evenings are. It would be a nice evening to be sitting in the woods next to a fire, looking at the clear skies and the moon.
One thing that always strikes me is how different West Virginia is from Virginia. You cross the Shenandoah Mountain and it’s like you are in a totally different world. Virginia is very southern, they act and talk very southern. West Virginia is Appalachian, they are much similar to what one would find in rural Upstate New York — especially the eastern half of the state where the mid-western accent isn’t that strong.
Virginia seems to bring a lot of tourists and has many tourist facilities. West Virginia in contrast is rustic and quiet. Harrisonburg and Stauton are fairly large cities, while across the Shenandoah Mountains you only have small rural hamlets and small cities like Moorefield. There is a lot of traffic in Virginia, not so much in small-town West Virginia.
Now I am sure that there are more rural and quiet sections of Virginia and more populated parts of West Virginia. Parts of West Virginia are certainly not as sleepy as the region when the National Forest predominates. And I’m sure some areas are more tourist draws.
