Vacation Home Search - Inquiry 1

Laurel Run is on the Nat RePro List.
 
Ditto what Dave said in general about the fishing in that neck of the woods. Like most PA State Forest streams, if the water is cold & clean, there'll be trout in there. Tusc SF is loaded with brookie streams, but the water can get low and in rough years get marginally warm.

I know the area of that property listing pretty well, it's a pretty secluded spot. Landisurg has a bank, a pizza shop or two and a gas station/convenience store, your typical crossroads town you find in the area, about 10 minutes drive from the listing. You're about an hour's drive to Carlisle, 40 minutes to Newville. All of the CV limestone's are in easy reach, Sherman's and the Conidiguinet both have good smallie fishing I'm told and are big enough to float a kayak for lazy drifting lower down, same for the Breeches.

Three state parks close by, Col Denning has a small lake, Fowler's Hollow is secluded with a trout stream and Big Spring is just a collection of nice old stone picnic pavilions in the middle of nowhere. Oh, and Little Buffalo State Park, but I've never really checked that one out, yet. Further out in Michaux State Forest you have Pine Grove Furnace State Park, with the two lakes, boating permitted on Laurel, both lakes have swimming. And for a touch of History, go over the next ridge and down through the orchards of Adam's County and you'll be in Gettysburg, should be less than a 2hr drive.

And to the north you're about an hour and a half from State College, Spring Creek, Penn's, etc...

Not sure what else was on your criteria list...if you're looking for place where a night at the movies or dinner out is just down the street, that ain't the place...though there is a drive in movie there in Newville at the intersection of 233 and 11.

Looks like a neat place.


OK, relized I could've just cut & pasted, duh.

100% of These Activities within 40 Minutes
Minimum of 4 Key Activities without Driving
___Swimming - Lake, Pool, or Other - Col Denning S.P.
___Exellent Trout Dry-Fly-Fishing - take your pick
___Trail Biking - Lots of gravel forest roads and some incredible mtb right out your door, and the road biking ain't too shabby either.
___Hiking - right out the door
___Dining - Carlisle will surprise you, lots of good locally owned restaurants downtown, could be an hour drive, takes me an hour to get up into the headwaters of Laurel Run.
___Golf - meh, there are some courses around.
___Kayaking - Lake or River - Sherman's Creek is closest, otherwise you're driving
___Cultural Activities and/or Shopping - Carlisle, G'burg, Harrisburg, State College
___Turkey and Small Game Hunting - just up the road in the state forest
 
I interpreted his request for suggestions to include as a primary requirement the ability to defray costs by renting to others. Therefore, this location sucks-- just saying. If rental to others is NOT a priority, then it seems ideal.
 
An owned cabin ties you to one area and you are the liable party. If the roof leaks, you fix it. If the pipes freeze, you fix them. Personally, although we may spend as much in rental fees at state park cabins and private holdings as we would to buy a cabin, I enjoy rotating around to all the state parks of the commonwealth, instead of being tethered to just one spot (no matter how many of the requirements that one spot may meet now).
 
I've also contemplated going in with family members on a cabin, but to echo others, there are so many great places to check out. Why be held down to one? I don't hunt, so if that were an activity you and your pals enjoy, I think a cabin is a great idea. For me, fishing is different. I don't like fishing the same water time and again.

Its a nice looking property, but I think someone that had a priority of fishing the area would stay closer to the larger streams. Just about every trickle of water in that state forest has brookies, and the scenery is great. I just wouldn't base a decision to buy off of marketing it for rent.
 
Also make sure that it is not in a flood zone, as that insurance can be expensive, assuming you will be doing a mortgage, the bank will demand that flood insurance be placed on property. I have seen some flood policies in the 2-3000 or better price range. AND you have to pay it in full each year. Just something to consider in your quest. Whereby, if you have a camper and it has comprehensive coverage on it, most policies will include flood protection(double check though to make sure)
 
gentleshepherd wrote:
Also make sure that it is not in a flood zone, as that insurance can be expensive, assuming you will be doing a mortgage, the bank will demand that flood insurance be placed on property. I have seen some flood policies in the 2-3000 or better price range. AND you have to pay it in full each year. Just something to consider in your quest.
Click to expand...

I would add "Not in floodplain" to your list of criteria, and be very firm about this, regardless of how nice a cabin and location appear.

Not just because of the cost of insurance, but because for the more obvious reason: flooding.

The damage and inconvenience and safety issues of flooding outweighs everything else.

Some buildings in floodplains are elevated to protect against flooding. Don't buy one of those either. Those flood defenses can fail in various ways. It's best to be out of the flood zone altogether.

And many cabins are in the floodplains.
 
When I was younger, I camped frequently with my extended family - parents, brothers, sisters, friends. Twenty years ago my father, brothers and I built a cabin in North Central PA, close to Lock Haven. The place was originally a hunting camp but once we built the place it morphed into so much more. After we built the place, we found so much more to do then hunting like fishing, hiking, mountain biking, Penn St Football weekends, etc. We still camped but as we discovered more in the area of our cabin, we camped less and less. Camping is great but on those cold, wet weekends it is much better to come back to a warm cabin instead of a campground.

Anyway, that's my two cents.

Don
 
I have no input on the area of your original post, as I have never been out that way, but..

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1219-Penns-Creek-Rd_Coburn_PA_16832_M49739-46530?row=1

Here is a funky house right on Penns near Coburn.
 
I have not fished Laurel Run, so I can't comment on that, but I imagine it is very much like many other small brook and brown trout streams in the mountains of SC PA.

Like you, I too have a wife and three kids and spent the last 3 years searching the eastern half of PA for a family cabin. I even looked in the vicinity of Landisburg.

However, during my search I received a great bit of advice from Troutbert, who said: If you love year-round wild trout fishing and want a place that you will be happy with for the rest of your life, then you need to be looking in and around Centre County. I took his advice and recently settled on a place near Reedsville in Mifflin County, and I can see that this is the beginning of something beautiful.

Just thought I would pass along the good advice, and thanks TB.
 
Tups wrote:
I have not fished Laurel Run, so I can't comment on that, but I imagine it is very much like many other small brook and brown trout streams in the mountains of SC PA.

Like you, I too have a wife and three kids and spent the last 3 years searching the eastern half of PA for a family cabin. I even looked in the vicinity of Landisburg.

However, during my search I received a great bit of advice from Troutbert, who said: If you love year-round wild trout fishing and want a place that you will be happy with for the rest of your life, then you need to be looking in and around Centre County. I took his advice and recently settled on a place near Reedsville in Mifflin County, and I can see that this is the beginning of something beautiful.

Just thought I would pass along the good advice, and thanks TB.
Click to expand...

I think I suggested that area as a possibility to a great deal because of what you said about driving time and where you are coming from.

My own "dream cabin" location would be further north, in Big Woods Country.
 
I always thought it would be great to have a spot somewhere between Analomink and White Haven. Lots of small brookie streams, plus the Brodhead, Pocono, for wade fishing for wild fish, and you could park a drift boat up there for floats on the Lehigh. Combine that with the established draw of the Poconos, in winter and summer, and you have a very identifiable pool of vacation renters.
 
TB: That's right. I had also been looking in the Big Woods ,but the 5 hour drive killed that idea. The OP lives near Lancaster and is looking for something within 2 hours of that place, which makes Centre County ideal for his purposes, and the trout fishing in Central PA is much better than that of Perry County.

The Poconos region certainly has the potential rental population, but the yorkers and jerseyites really take the luster off. Kidding of course, but it's awefully crowded up there.

 
With the Casino and the new water parks they are building I would have to say the Poconos would be the best for you to rent out when you are not there.As has been mentioned plenty of good streams and if you have the money and the inclination some clubs to join. The Broadhead chapter of trout unlimited is great also. Just my 2 cents.
 
Given that being able to rent out the place is a requirement, do you have any insight into what the vacancy percentage on rental vacation properties might be? I'd say that would be a pretty important piece to know, unless you are independently wealthy and really don't care about the rental income and are just looking to recoup some of the cost of idle time on the property.
 
Thanks all for the feedback on this place, special thanks to Salvelinus, Tomitrout, Fishidiot, Krayfish2, Biggie, JackM and Chaz.

I spent Saturday, June 6th exploring the area and camped the evening in Col. Denning State Park. The place definitely has potential, but is not for us. I have to agree with JackM that there would not be a lot of interested vacation renters.

The immediate area is my kind of place, but is probably a bit too "redneck" for my wife. I had both lunch and dinner at the Laurel Run Lodge and met some great people. This is an establishment that time left behind for sure!

I fished for few hours on Saturday with moderate wild trout success on Laurel Run; not quite as good as it should have been and I should have changed out flies because my hook-up ratio was atrocious.

Would prefer more of a rail-trail type biking and this was not that. Swimming at Col. Denning looked okay, but water snakes may freak out my wife. A little bit too far to Carlise, I think. Very nice state forest, but a lot of activity back along the roads. Definitely a potential for security problems at this property, I think, although there is a neighbor who can see some things.

I determined that south of the PA turnpike would probably suit better. I like Newville area. I have been looking around the Pine Grove SP area for a long time now.

Coburn is the other area I have been looking for a long time as we have camped at Poe Paddy every year for a long time.

Poconos near the Lehigh is the other area I have been looking as every year we camp at Hickory Run.

Again, thanks for the feedback, I wanted to close the loop a bit with this post.
 
Be careful where you look in the Poconos. Believe it or not the crime rate there has gone up with the influx of outsiders.
 
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