A visitor's guide to
BLUE MARSH LAKE
Facilities

This is the largest and most heavily used recreation area at Blue Marsh Lake. Its eight parking lots can hold 668 single vehicles, with 6 oversized spaces for buses or campers.

• There is a concession stand, public telephones, and a bathhouse at the Day Use Area.
• The swim area has been graded to meet Pennsylvania swim beach standards.
• Additional facilities are as follows:
  • Picnic areas and pavilions
  • Volleyball courts
  • Play areas
• This area provides the visitor with the best shoreline access.
• There is a fee of $3 per vehicle, and $1 per person, if walking into the area. Fees are charged May 1 - September 30.
  

Accessible from Palisades Drive, it adjoins the Dry Brooks Day Use Area in Bern Township.

• The ramp is wide enough for two vehicles to launch or retrieve their boats at the same time, and courtesy docks are also provided.
• There is a small picnic area with one grill, a public telephone, and restrooms by the launch.
• Boats can be pulled up on the boat beach next to the courtesy docks, but swimming is not permitted in this area.
• The parking lot has 86 spaces for cars with boat trailers.
• A facility use fee is charged May 1 - September 30:
  • $3.00 per vehicle
  • $1.00 per person walking into the area

Located immediately downstream of the dam, the Stilling Basin is where water is released from the dam into Tulpehocken Creek.

• The main parking lot, which is accessible from Palisades Drive, can accommodate 40 vehicles.  The smaller adjacent lot can hold an additional 15.
• This is a popular fishing area. Try your luck at catching a walleye, tiger muskellunge, trout or catfish where the water is released into the creek, but be careful during times of high releases.
• There is a universally accessible fishing platform located along the banks of Tulpehocken Creek near the small parking lot.
• The Blue Marsh Lake Hiking Trail, which is open to hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding, can be accessed just off the main parking area.
• There is also a small picnic area.

State Hill Boat Launch is located in Lower Heidelberg Township, accessible from Brownsville Road.

• The parking lot has 86 spaces for cars with boat trailers. There is also a parking lot for single vehicles only.
• The ramp is wide enough for two vehicles to launch or retrieve their boats at the same time, and courtesy docks are also provided. The ramp is wide enough for two vehicles with trailers that are launching or retrieving watercraft. In addition there is a rigging lane, a tie-down lane, and a boat beach.
• A public telephone is located at this launch, as well as a small picnic grove with restrooms nearby.
• The Blue Marsh Hiking Trail passes through the area, and the one-mile long Squirrel Run Nature Trail can be accessed from here.
• There is a scenic overlook off of the first parking lot after you enter the recreation area.
• A facility use fee is charged May 1 - September 30:
  • $3.00 per vehicle
  • $1.00 per person walking into the area

Sheidy Boat Launch is located south of the town of Bernville along Route 183.

• This launch is administered by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, which charges no user fee but does require ALL watercraft (motorized or not) to be registered.
• There are two launch ramps and one courtesy dock.
• Remember that here you are launching into the "No Wake Area" of the Tulpehocken Creek arm of the lake. This means you must run your boat at slow speed anywhere in this area. You should count on 35 to 45 minutes for the boat trip from Sheidy Launch to the main pool.
• There are no picnic facilities.
• This launch has 63 boat spaces in the paved lot, 2 handicapped boat spaces and 2 handicapped single vehicle spaces, and a gravel parking lot that can hold about 40 more vehicles with trailers.

Old Dry Road Farm is a living history farm in Lower Heidelberg Township.

• You can reach it by turning onto Highland Road off of Brownsville Road.
• The complex includes two farmsteads -- the 19th century Essig Farm and the 18th century Staudt Farm -- the latter of which is on the National Register of Historic Places.
• Area school districts coordinate class visits to Old Dry Road Farm, which is associated with the Berks County Intermediate Unit. Children learn about daily life on a rural farm in the 1700s and 1800s by watching live reenactments and then by practicing traditional farming skills.
• Old Dry Road Farm, Inc. also holds an Annual Fall Festival that is open to the public.

The summer or recreation pool is 290 feet above sea level, where the lake is generally maintained from April through September. At this level it covers 1,150 acres, runs 8 miles long, and has 35 miles of shoreline.

• The deepest area of the lake is 53 feet in front of the dam and Visitor Center.
• Five streams feed Blue Marsh Lake: Tulpehocken, Spring, Powder Mill, Northkill, and Licking Creeks.
• The winter pool is 285 feet above sea level, which equates to 963 surface acres and a maximum depth of 48 feet. From October through March this level provides extra storage for snow melt, and for quick runoff from winter storms when the ground is frozen.
• Quarry Island occupies 60 acres in the main pool of the lake.
• The maximum pool for flood control is 307 feet above sea level, which equates to 2,159 surface acres and a maximum depth of 70 feet.
• The lake serves the multiple purposes of flood control, water supply, water quality and recreation.
• Lake recreation activities include swimming, boating, water skiing, scuba diving, and fishing, plus ice boating, ice fishing and ice skating during the winter months. However, before venturing out on the ice we recommend you dress appropriately, always check the ice thickness, and never take part in ice related sports by yourself.
• The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is responsible for fisheries management as well as the enforcement of state boating and fishing regulations. The Corps of Engineers enforces all Federal boating regulations.

Several small access areas along the lake are often used for canoe access, fishing, picnicking, swimming, hiking and bike riding. These areas do not have public phones or lighting, and most also lack picnic and bathroom facilities.