Hitting the Trails: Index

Hitting the Trails is a 15-week, hiking and biking series that spotlights trails in western Pennsylvania -- short hikes, some well-known and others obscure, that are an easy drive for most people.

Post-Gazette staff writers Don Hopey, Bob Batz Jr. and Christopher Snowbeck, along with multimedia editor Curt Chandler, will be trekking by foot and bike to bring you a little nature, a little history and ideas on getting exercise, too.

The series coincides with the Hike for Health campaign by the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to promote exercise by hiking Pennsylvania.

Sept. 5, 2004: Quebec Run Wild Area

To celebrate my recent birthday, I went wild, getting high on a psychedelic array of exotic mushrooms. It wasn't at all illicit: I simply went to the Quebec Run Wild Area after some rainy weather, which had precipitated a mind-blowing explosion of multicolored mushrooms such as I'd never before experienced. The place is a 7,441-acre wooded preserve on the eastern slope of Chestnut Ridge in Fayette County, just east of Uniontown, named for Quebec Run, which flows through it. It's one of 16 designated state forest "wild areas," which the state manages so they stay undeveloped, permitting "no development of a permanent nature." That means no new access roads, no gas wells, not even typical state park type amenities such as campgrounds. We're talking wild wild.

Story by Bob Batz Jr. ~ Photos by Curt Chandler

August 29, 2004: The Ghost Town Trail

Bike trails throughout the region juxtapose natural beauty and industrial decay, but few do so as hauntingly as the Ghost Town Trail. Stop just east of Vintondale, near the trail's midpoint, for example, and look for the two mountain ridges -- one of tree-covered hills in the distance, and a second in the foreground comprised of "boney piles," massive heaps of waste rock from coal mines. "You get to see the some of the most beautiful scenery in the U.S., and the worst that man can do to the environment," said Denise Weber, secretary of the Cambria and Indiana Trail Council, which tends the trail.

Story by Christopher Snowbeck ~ Photos by Curt Chandler

August 22, 2004: The Slippery Rock Gorge Trail

Most people visiting McConnells Mill State Park, a tiny but brilliant geologic gem 40 miles north of Pittsburgh, get out of their cars only to sightsee at the old grist mill, built in 1868, and the covered bridge, built in 1874 and smashingly uncovered by a falling hemlock in March. Some will stroll past the mill and bridge along the tumbling green creek on the wide and easy Kildoo Trail or Alpha Pass Trail and marvel at the big-as-a-house blocks of sandstone exposed and eroded by glaciers over the past 2 million years. But relatively few will venture through the 400-foot deep glacial gorge on the 6.2-mile Slippery Rock Gorge Trail, part of the North Country National Scenic Trail. The blue-blazed route between the Eckert Bridge and the Hells Hollow trail head carries a "moderate to difficult" rating. But readers who have climbed out of their Barcaloungers to follow the PG's summer-long hiking and bicycling series, honing their hiking skills and buffing their bodies in the process, should be ready for the challenge.

Story by Don Hopey ~ Photos by Curt Chandler

August 15, 2004: The Baker Trail

Back in 1889 -- in 72 days, six hours and 11 minutes -- daredevil journalist Nellie Bly traveled by ship, train, donkey and rickshaw around the world. Earlier this month, in about four hours and 45 minutes, I traveled by foot across Armstrong County's Crooked Creek Lake property to Cochran's Mills, the hamlet where Bly was born (as Elizabeth Cochrane). I also felt a bit daredevilish because I was hiking on the Baker Trail, a far-flung and venerable path that, alas, has fallen into disuse and disrepair. When it opened in 1950, the trail, named for attorney Horace Forbes Baker, stretched from Aspinwall to Cook Forest State Park. Development nibbled away at the southern end, but in 1971, the northern end was extended into the Allegheny National Forest. I'd love to take two weeks and backpack the entire 141-mile trail, but this taste of it was sweet.

Story by Bob Batz Jr. ~ Photos by Curt Chandler

August 8, 2004: West Penn Trail

Some 200 years after Lewis and Clark charted a route between the oceans, I set out to accomplish what struck me as a similar feat: Bridging the gap between the eastern and western sections of the West Penn Trail. The bike trail runs through Indiana and Westmoreland counties, and I'd previously explored the two completed sections. On the western end, there are roughly seven miles that pass through the historic village of Saltsburg. On the eastern end, there are 3.3 miles, including massive stone arch bridges built in 1907 to carry the mainline of the Pennsylvania Railroad. What of the two miles in between? Could the connection be made? Map.

Story by Chris Snowbeck ~ Photos by Curt Chandler

August 1, 2004: Mount Davis, highest point in Pennsylvania

Some people build their hiking resumes around treks to the highest elevation in each of the 50 states. Visiting some of the high points -- like 20,320-foot Mount McKinley in Alaska or 14,494-foot Mount Whitney in California -- can be a demanding test of your ability to put one foot in front of the other. But gaining the highest ground in many states is an easier, though still fun, way to chart a hiking history. At 3,213 feet above sea level, Mount Davis is Pennsylvania's highest point. It sits on a 300 million-year-old bump of Pottsville sandstone on the Allegheny Plateau in southern Somerset County. And although you could drive to within a couple of feet of the top spot on a Forbes State Forest road, a more sporting way to get there is a three-mile hiking loop that starts at the pretty Mount Davis Picnic Area. Map.

Story by Don Hopey ~ Photos by Curt Chandler

July 25, 2004: Native Plant Butterfly Trail

A new network of trails in Moraine State Park aims to attract not just hikers, but also butterflies, by providing a place where both can enjoy a beautiful range of native plants and trees. It's called the Native Plant Butterfly Trail, but it's several short trails through meadow, wetlands and woodlands on the north shore of Lake Arthur at the park in Butler County. Dedicated in September, this man-made habitat with a natural look is an ongoing project. "Gardens are never done," noted trail committee Chairwoman Natalie Price, of Butler, as she led a tour of the easily walkable peninsula on a blistering day when it was snowing -- thistle fluff. There also were plenty of butterflies in the air, plus various birds and their songs and the perfume of wildflowers. Map.

Story by Bob Batz Jr. ~ Photos by Curt Chandler

July 18, 2004: Butler-Freeport Community Trail

The stunning beauty of towering trees and rugged rock cuts high above the Butler-Freeport Community Trail can be hazardous to your health. On a bike ride last week, I nearly plowed through a prodigious pile of horse poop on the trail because my gaze was fixed on hemlocks and sycamores that blot out the sky. (Horses are supposed to stay on the shoulder, by the way.) While stopping to marvel at a 20-foot rock formation that borders the trail, I drifted back into the path and nearly served as a speed bump for a mountain biker whizzing past. All of this, of course, amounts to a recommendation for the trail. Map.

Story by Chris Snowbeck ~ Photos by Curt Chandler

July 11, 2004: Meadow Run Trail

This is one cool hike. The Meadow Run Trail, a loop of three miles in Ohiopyle State Park, easily meets the 1950s hipster definition of noteworthy, desirable and fun -- what goes by "sweet" today. It's also fitting in terms of temperature, an important consideration for hikers as we slice now into the meat of summer's heat. For those who know this area of Fayette County, and there are many, just the idea of the glassy-slick natural water slides and effervescent cascades of Meadow Run are enough to create a mental breeze. And actually hiking through the hemlock and rhododendron that fringe the shade-darkened trail along the creek bottom is to experience Nature's own A/C. Map.

Story by Don Hopey ~ Photos by Curt Chandler

July 4, 2004: Boyce Mayview Park

Before running off to the office in the mornings, people run. They row, bicycle, lift weights. Could a person, before going to work, go on a hike? Sure. This region holds many near-to-civilization hiking routes. Prime examples are the nature trails at Boyce Mayview Park in Upper St. Clair. Ironically hidden by its south suburban surroundings, this 475-acre tract is a mostly undeveloped mix of woods, fields and wetlands. The township has multimillion-dollar master plans for adding aquatic and recreation centers and paved trails. This week, the manager was authorized to seek a firm to design a better trail system, and hikers aren't being encouraged until improvements are made. But plenty of people love the place wild as it is. Map.

Story by Bob Batz Jr. ~ Photos by Curt Chandler

June 27, 2004: Franklin bike trails

With the growing network of bike trails near this Venango County seat, gasoline isn't required for touring the birthplace of the nation's petroleum industry. Franklin is both a charming river town 85 miles north of Pittsburgh, and the perfect access point for 35 miles of paved bike trails that provide glimpses of the region's oil heritage. In 1859, the first commercial oil well was drilled near Titusville, about 20 miles north of Franklin, and the area is dotted with relics of the 19th-century oil boom. On the Allegheny River Trail, just east of town, cyclists pass near the third oil well ever drilled, and a well drilled by John Wilkes Booth about one year before he assassinated President Lincoln. Map.

Story by Christopher Snowbeck ~ Photos and audio by Curt Chandler

June 20, 2004: Riverview Park Loop

Behind the newly refurbished Riverview Park visitor center, just a few strides down the shade-darkened Wissahickon Trail, we were almost run over by a big deer.
She came charging noisily down the hill and onto the trail, running at us not more than 10 feet away before veering off down slope and disappearing into the shadows. Just up hill, only partially hidden by stout trunks of maple, ash and oak, four more deer peered down at us, no doubt shaken by the near-crash with the interlopers hiking in their woods.
Ten minutes from Downtown Pittsburgh, tucked away between Perrysville and Woods Run avenues on the North Side, the 287-acre park is an oasis of green near the urban core but remains the least known of the city's four great parks. Frick, Schenley and Highland, all east of Downtown, get the bulk of public attention, but that's unfair, especially when it comes to Riverview's extensive trail system, arrayed like a web spun by a drunken spider around the Allegheny Observatory, the stately domed landmark that houses the University of Pittsburgh's 30-inch Thaw Telescope on Observatory Hill. Map.

Story by Don Hopey ~ Photos and audio by Curt Chandler

June 13, 2004: Raccoon Loop

I hate to say this, and I say it only with a purposefully placed hyphen, but I pooped-out in the woods. Yes, I felt totally tired even before finishing the 20 miles of trails that make up the Raccoon Loop, which winds around the perimeter of Raccoon Creek State Park in Beaver County. It's a great workout, for body and soles/soul. Having loved backpacking since eighth grade, I'd been itching to hike the route, long enough for a two-day trip and so close to Pittsburgh, since it was opened in May 2003. This season came added incentive: The opening of the first wood camping shelter. Map (pdf format).

Story by Bob Batz Jr. ~ Photos and audio by Curt Chandler

June 6, 2004: Panhandle and Montour trails

My first sight on the trail should have been a warning: A Port-A-John lay face down on the ground, apparently toppled by strong winds from a storm the night before. I checked to see that no one was trapped inside, then pushed ahead on my journey toward the sturdy, no-frills village of McDonald. This Washington County town sits at the juncture of two growing rails-to-trails projects that are within an hour of Pittsburgh. Taken together, the Panhandle and Montour trails offer a great variety of rides -- up to 50 miles round trip, if you want -- that branch out in three directions from McDonald. Map.

Story by Christopher Snowbeck ~ Photos and audio by Curt Chandler

May 30, 2004: Wolf Rocks Loop Trail

Views near and far of the forested blue-green ridges that gave this state part of its name are the attractions at Wolf Rocks, the massive, irregularly stacked, cup and saucer-shaped sandstone outcrop that hangs off the edge of the Laurel Ridge summit. There, against a lumpy sylvan backdrop, hikers who have hoofed a little more than two miles from the parking lot at tiny Laurel Summit State Park can watch weather roll in from the west, see buzzards and hawks hang on the sweet updrafts along the windy ridge and look down on the playgrounds of the rich around the town of Rector in Westmoreland County. Map.

Story by Don Hopey ~ Photos by Curt Chandler

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Publication of this series coincides with the Hike for Health project promoted by the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, state Department of Health and other agencies to encourage folks to get fit on foot. The DCNR has more information on Hiking for Health and hiking in Pennsylvania state parks.