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An overhead bridge connects two sides of the Pequea Creak a few miles down from Sickman's Mill.

Views from a tube floating down Sickman's Mill in mid August, 2022.

A large bird flies across a cloud sky above Pequea Creek near Sickman's Mill in August, 2022.

Tubers float leisurely down the Pequea Creek from Sickman's Mill in mid August, 2022

An overhead bridge connects two sides of the Pequea Creak a few miles down from Sickman's Mill.

Views from a tube floating down Sickman's Mill in mid August, 2022.

A large bird flies across a cloud sky above Pequea Creek near Sickman's Mill in August, 2022.

Tubers float leisurely down the Pequea Creek from Sickman's Mill in mid August, 2022

There’s a feeling I get every year when I first start to notice summer winding down.  

Even if June and July are hot and miserable – and they certainly were this year – all it takes is one cool August breeze to make me realize that my mental summertime checklist is still chock full of empty boxes.  

One such glaring omission was my self-made promise to take a tube float at the new and improved Sickman’s Mill in Pequea . All summer, between work, weddings, errands and obligations, I saw people posting on Instagram from this idyllic hideaway – just 20 minutes from my house – tubing the day away on Pequea Creek .  

With just weeks left before the Mill’s seasonal closing in the days following Labor Day weekend, I took advantage of an open Sunday and finally made it happen.  

At Sickman’s Mill, there are two main tubing options – the “Classic,” which goes for about two hours, and the “Guided,” which takes four hours (depending on the creek’s levels) and features, as the website promises , a “local knowledgeable guide.” Both options take place on the Pequea, but the guided tour runs for three and a quarter miles compared to a mile and half for the regular float. 

Luckily for me, my guide for the day was local Man of the People Matt Johnson, who has been splitting his time between Sickman’s Mill and Church World Service for the last two years. Johnson is not only knowledgeable, as his title suggests, but also has a fervor for sharing that knowledge and making it enjoyable, too.  

Our tubing journey began in front of Jimmy’s Place, the outdoor bar Sickman’s Mill owners Joe Devoy and Dana Paparo built and named after their recently departed dog. One of many rapids along Pequea Creek just happens to form here, which helps provide  an initial feeling akin to a Hot Wheels car going through a track booster, though a little wetter and at a more calming speed.  

Even though I have a lifetime of tubing memories, that first half hour on an unfamiliar tube always takes some getting used to. It's good to hit that first underwater rock as soon as possible, because when that initial jolt hits your tailbone, you’ll do anything in your power to avoid a second one, even if it means bringing back the art of p lanking for the first time since 2011.  

It was a sunny August day and the vibes on the water were  joyous. No one – not a family of five I saw desperately try to keep their tubes linked, or the silent couple blasting Beyoncé and Slim Thug’s 2005 hit “Check On It” at full volume on a small Bluetooth speaker – seemed to be in a foul mood as they floated casually down the creek.  

What: Tube floating at Sickman’s Mill  

When:  Daily through Thursday, Sept. 8 , from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Note: Wednesday, Aug. 31, is the last “Late Night Float,” which goes from 5 to 7 p.m.  

Cost: $25 for a regular tubing pass, $20 for kids 8 and under, $35 for an all-day tubing pass (only available Monday through Friday) . Guided  tour is  $80 and must be arranged in advance on sickmansmill.com.  

More information: sickmansmill.com  

Even if I were able to imagine it, the scene feels ridiculous – a man with his legs up in the air but his arms crossed, pouting, waiting for the whole thing to be over? Not a chance.  

The best part about tubing on the Pequea is that you’re never moving so fast that you can’t appreciate the nature around you. Among the trees and foliage is some semi-forgotten history, including a few i ncred ibly smooth rocks left behind from a magnetic ore mine that was active in the 1800s. With Johnson explaining the history, you can almost make out the old railroad and imagine the mine workers, who probably deserved a good float or two after a hard day’s labor.  

Johnson says that it only took a few tours to learn the route and the history of the creek. From roughly 1881 to 1913, the Pequea Magnetic Iron Mining Company – one of many eventual names for the company – employed hundreds of Lancastrians to work on both sides of the Pequea to mine ore. H e know s about what has taken place  historically at the creek, but he’s also very up to date on its current inhabitants. At one point, Johnson t old me to look up in the trees, where I  saw an eagle’s nest big enough to easily fit the both of us for an afternoon nap. From horses , bison and even the tiny gnats who make a home a few centimeters above still water, it’s easy to feel like the animals of the Pequea are begrudgingly accepting of the silly humans’ presence on their waters.  

A little over halfway through , George appeared, as if ready to take the tour baton from Johnson. I should mention that George is a Great Egret, a large white bird with a four-to-five-foot wingspan. He came without a tube but seemed to know the area better than anyone. At first, we thought he flew down for a tasty treat from the water, but George continually land ed on the left side of the creek, wa i t ed for us to get a scant few yards away, and then fl ew up ahead to the next bank on the left, dutifully waiting for the water to push our tubes back to him. It’s difficult to say how long he did this for, but it felt like George graced us with his presence for about an hour.  

I purposefully kept my watch and phone in a waterproof bag, content to let time pass without a care in the world while I was on the water . In quiet moments, I’d paddle to lay halfway in the shade and sun, astonished at the difference in temperature. It could probably go without saying , but Pequea Creek is not necessarily water that you want to put your face in, though I did briefly do that at one point when we stopped to jump off   a few rocks into deeper water. Water shoes are a must , if only to avoid that great unknowable brown “dirt” beneath our tubes.  

The float came to an end in the early evening, j ust as my back was beginning to show signs of wear .  Returning to Jimmy’s Place that evening  couldn’t have felt more joyous – the bar featured Matt Woodson and his excellent Woodson Steel Experience band playing live, and the holdovers from an afternoon picnic were still carousing with Jimmy Juices in hand. A small part of me felt ready to just jump in and do it all over again, though I will wait for an evening float next time for a different experience.  

With just a short time left until Labor Day, I was glad to finally check off this summer box before it too floated away, out of reach.  

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