One of the most welcome signs active dog owners can see while traveling is a light brown roadside marker with white lettering. No, it’s not a National Park Service sign - those familiar waymarkers are a darker brown. These light brown signs belong to the Army Corps of Engineers. The history of United States Army Corps of Engineers can be traced back to 16 June 1775, when the Continental Congress organized an army with a chief engineer and two assistants. Colonel Richard Gridley became General George Washington's first chief engineer; however, it was not until 1779 that Congress created a separate Corps of Engineers. One of its first tasks was to build fortifications near Boston at Bunker Hill.
Today the Corps of Engineers is associated mostly with dams and flood control. And that means lakes and that means recreation. Many times when the Corps dams a river they build a public recreation area for fun on the lake. And this fun almost always extends to your dog (usually not on the beaches in season though). Almost every recreation area has at least one well-marked and maintained trail; you can almost always find access to the water for swimming loving dogs; and the campgrounds almost universally tail-friendly.
What’s not to love? Well, it’s not easy to find these Army Corps of Engineers recreation areas. Even though they typically cover thousands and thousands of acres they are not listed on most maps. Unfold a road map and you’ll see national parks and big state parks and forests marked in green. It’s a simple matter to steer the car in that direction but rarely are Army Corps facilities marked. Take Raystown Lake in Pennsylvania for instance.
It is the largest lake contained completely in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with over 8,000 acres of water surface. Look at a map and you can’t miss it in the middle of Pennsylvania. But you wouldn’t know there are 118 miles of wooded shoreline and 21,000 public wooded acres around it managed by the Corps of Engineers - there is no outline of green space around the lake. You wouldn’t know the Corps manages the largest marina in Pennsylvania at the Seven Points Recreation Area. Or that such a recreation area - with trails, hundreds of campsites, a small beach where your dog can swim in the lake - exists at all unless you knew ahead of time or spotted that telltale light brown sign with the white lettering as you were motoring along Route 26.
The Army Corps of Engineers manages scores of such water paradises around the country. The next time you are planning a trip with your dog check out their website to see if any Corps recreation areas lie along your route: http://corpslakes.usace.army.mil/visitors/. And keep an eye out for those light brown signs.
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