Karl Boyes Trail

The Karl Boyes Multi-Purpose National Recreation Trail makes a 13.5 mile paved loop around Presque Isle State Park, the sandy peninsula that curls off Erie into Lake Erie. The ride circles the whole spit, passing the Perry Monument, the 1873 Presque Isle Lighthouse, the old Waterworks, and a string of swimming beaches, with Presque Isle Bay and views of Erie on one side and open lake and sunset views on the other. The grade is dead flat, and most of the loop is a dedicated path, though a few stretches share the low-speed park road on a wide shoulder. Expect company on summer weekends; this is the busiest state park in Pennsylvania.

• Presque Isle is a recurved sand spit formed during the last glacial period, and longshore drift is still slowly moving the whole peninsula to the northeast.
• Commodore Perry's Lake Erie fleet, including the 110 foot brigs Lawrence and Niagara, was built on these shores beginning in September 1812.
• When the fleet was built, Erie was a village of about 400 people and 100 homes, and supplies had to be hauled overland from Pittsburgh and Buffalo.
• The Presque Isle Light was constructed in 1872 and first lit on July 12, 1873.
• Presque Isle hosts over 4 million visitors a year, more than any other Pennsylvania state park.
• The peninsula was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1967.

There was never a railroad here. Presque Isle is a recurved sand spit that formed after the last glacial period, and longshore drift has kept it creeping northeast ever since. The peninsula's big story is the War of 1812. Its sheltered bay was the only protected harbor on the American side of Lake Erie. Beginning in September 1812, Daniel Dobbins and shipbuilder Noah Brown built the Lake Erie Squadron on these shores, including the 110 foot brigs Lawrence and Niagara. Oliver Hazard Perry took command in March 1813 and sailed that fleet to victory at the Battle of Lake Erie. A century later, from 1908 to 1949, a waterworks on the bay side pumped Erie's drinking water. Pennsylvania made the peninsula a state park in 1921. The loop trail came much later. State Representative Karl Boyes of Erie championed a paved path around the peninsula, and with funding secured and environmental concerns addressed, construction began in 1994, threaded carefully around the park's sensitive lagoons and wetlands. After Boyes died in 2003, the completed loop was renamed the Karl Boyes Multi-Purpose National Recreation Trail in honor of his advocacy, and it now carries a National Recreation Trail designation.

• Feather Observation PlatformMILE 1.1Directions
• Ferry DockMILE 2.8Directions
• East PierMILE 4.6Directions
• Perry MonumentMILE 5.8Directions
• Thompson CircleMILE 7.4Directions
• Sunset PointMILE 7.9Directions
• Presque Isle LighthouseMILE 9.3Directions
• WaterworksMILE 10.8Directions
• Park EntranceMILE 13.5Directions

• Pennsylvania DCNR · Biking at Presque Isle State Park
• Pennsylvania DCNR · Karl Boyes Multi-Purpose National Recreation Trail
• Wikipedia · Presque Isle State Park
• Secrets of the Trails · Presque Isle: Karl Boyes Multi-Purpose Recreation Trail
• Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (TrailLink) · Karl Boyes Multi-Purpose National Recreation Trail

plus interpretive signage along the trail