Jennifer O
September 29, 2026
We were here for a work event and had a great experience!
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36 reviews
The Blue Marsh Lake (Dry Brooks Day Use Area) features a clean and well-equipped pavilion, along with spotless bathroom facilities. Visitors appreciate the exceptional staff and find the prices to be very reasonable. Overall, it is considered a great location for a day out.
Based on guest feedback
4.8
Based on 36 reviews
Showing 36 reviews
September 29, 2026
We were here for a work event and had a great experience!
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September 9, 2026
This was a great, mostly private area. It was quiet and had great space to spread out for our family reunion. You just need to drive down to the lake.
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June 6, 2026
Very nice pavilion, it was clean with all kinds of facilities. Bathroom was very clean. Best place with unbelievable price .
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October 12, 2025
Great staff
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October 12, 2025
Great staff
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July 27, 2024
Private and quiet
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July 27, 2024
Private and quiet
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July 22, 2024
Our day was lovely! Quite perfect in almost every way! My daughter’s bridal shower at the pavilion was everything I hope it would be. The pavilion was clean and had a pretty view.
My only complaint was the rudeness we received upon arrival from your ranger who obviously has some power issues. I had pulled my car temporarily down to the pavilion to unload the large amounts of things, and heavy coolers of food and drinks. There were no signs saying this was prohibited that I could see. Truly, I was not hurting a thing. He came down rudely yelling that we needed to move the car NOW. That we could NOT finish unloading, to move NOW. I will say, I finished unloading before I moved the car back to the parking lot. There was no way I could have carried all that down that hill. He could have been a gentleman and helped! And if that is a rule, you should maybe think about accommodating people to be able to carefully pull down and unload and pull back up to the parking area after. Absolutely no harm was done in this!
Other than that, everything else was lovely.
But if someone is using this pavilion for a party and they have large and heavy things to unload from their car…be prepared to carry it a good distance down a significant hill from the parking lot…which would not be fun, and frankly more dangerous for someone getting hurt than allowing them to pull down and unload safely.
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July 22, 2024
Our day was lovely! Quite perfect in almost every way! My daughter’s bridal shower at the pavilion was everything I hope it would be. The pavilion was clean and had a pretty view.
My only complaint was the rudeness we received upon arrival from your ranger who obviously has some power issues. I had pulled my car temporarily down to the pavilion to unload the large amounts of things, and heavy coolers of food and drinks. There were no signs saying this was prohibited that I could see. Truly, I was not hurting a thing. He came down rudely yelling that we needed to move the car NOW. That we could NOT finish unloading, to move NOW. I will say, I finished unloading before I moved the car back to the parking lot. There was no way I could have carried all that down that hill. He could have been a gentleman and helped! And if that is a rule, you should maybe think about accommodating people to be able to carefully pull down and unload and pull back up to the parking area after. Absolutely no harm was done in this!
Other than that, everything else was lovely.
But if someone is using this pavilion for a party and they have large and heavy things to unload from their car…be prepared to carry it a good distance down a significant hill from the parking lot…which would not be fun, and frankly more dangerous for someone getting hurt than allowing them to pull down and unload safely.
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July 10, 2024
Although it was good to have a guaranteed spot for my group’s picnic the cost was high at $100, a 100% increase over a few years ago. For decades we used a pavilion once a year and paid nothing until the increased demand changed things. During all those years one of our members who transported the bulk of our equipment and food pulled their vehicle up to the pavilion to make unloading easier. This year, for the first time ever a park ranger nearly fined one of our group $110 for doing what we did without question for decades. Gratefully, he let my friend off with a warning. And although driving over grass was listed as not allowed in my agreement there were no signs anywhere warning unsuspecting visitors of such a violation. Signs should be prominently displayed. Otherwise our experience was good.
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1420 Palisades Dr., Leesport, PA 19533 United States
Elevation: 133 ft
Blue Marsh Lake is located 7 mi northwest of Reading, PA. Take route 183 north and make a left on Palisades Dr. Travel one mile and the Dry Brooks Day Use Area will be on your right.
Blue Marsh Lake is accessible via Route 183, which connects to nearby highways. It is located approximately 7 miles northwest of Reading, PA.
Check in time
8AM
Check out time
5PM
Last updated: October 7, 2026