Located in north-central Pennsylvania, the Quehanna Trail is part of a massive collection of backpacking trails located north of I-80. This area is part of the Allegheny Plateau, an incredibly remote, rugged area dissected by countless streams, runs, and rivers. The Quehanna trail is one of several long circuit trails in this region. The western trail head is located at Parker Dam state park, near Clearfield Pennsylvania. From here the Quehanna trail makes a 73 miles loop. Besides the Quehanna trail itself, there are two cross-connectors and numerous side hiking and cross-country ski trails in the eastern section. The eastern section of the trail contains the Quehanna wild area.
After having hiked the lower 40 miles of the loop back in June, this March I hike the upper part of the loop that is 33 miles. We started from the access point at Wycoff run road and worked our way back to Parker Dam going counter clockwise. Wycoff run road travels between the Quehanna highway which is the main road through the Quehanna highway and the town of Sinnamahoning. For the exact location of these parking areas the Pennsylvania DCNR has an excellent PDF map of the entire Quehanna trail (
http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/recreation/hiking/stateforesttrails/quehannatrail/).
We started on the last Friday of March at Wycoff run road. From the parking area the trail gradually climbs up Sanders draft, one of the many creeks and streams you will see on the trail.
After a mile and some change you will come to the top of the plateau. While the southern part of the loop mostly stays on the Plateau, the north section takes you up and down into many of the valleys and gorges in this area. For the next several miles however you will stay on the plateau. One unique feature of the Quehanna wild area is large open blueberry fields that were never reforested for some reason.
This section of the trail takes you past a few of these areas but you have to venture onto the side trails south of the Quehanna Highway to see some of the larger open areas. Along the way you will pass by Arch Spring about 5 miles from the start. There is the foundation of an old building here that is a well used camping spot.
We originally planned to camp here but decided to go on. From here you begin a long descent to Red Run, one of the larger streams you will pass on the trail. Along the way you pass a couple of campsites One unique aspect of the large number of bridges on the trail. This one spans Red Run.
At the bottom the trail follows Red Run Road for a while. After walking a ways on the road we camped between the road and Red Run under some hemlocks after 8 miles of hiking.
The next morning we woke up bright and early since we had a 15 mile day in front of us. Soon after starting we were treated to one of the biggest climbs on the trail with a thousand foot ascent along Porcupine Draft back to the top of the plateau. The climb was beautiful with the sun just come over the horizon and Porcupine draft was running fast. On the way up we passed a waterfall.
Once at the top the trail stays on the plateau for the next several miles. Ordinarily this would be a fairly easy stretch of trail but there was still about 8 inches of frozen, crusty snow on this section they make for difficult walking. After plodding through this for several miles the trail descends into another gorge carved by Mix Run. We spent the next several miles hiking through the valley created by Mix Run.
This was a beautiful typical Pennsylvania stream walk with lots of hemlocks. There were several good camping spots along this section. Following the pattern we eventually climbed out of this gorge back up to the plateau. Luckily the the snow was mostly gone in this section making for much easier going. Once again we walked across the plateau for a while before the trail descends. Eventually you reach Haystack mountain. The trail makes a large U around the mountain on a couple miles of sidehill before reaching the Quehanna Highway.
We crossed the Quehanna Highway after stopping for a rest. The trail follows the side of another mountain before descending Medix Run. Right after crossing Medix Run on a bridge we found a nice camping spot and decided to call it a day after about 15 miles.
After going to sleep early we started once again at sunrise since there was a chance of rain after noon. We had another large climb ahead of us as the trail follows Bear Run back to the top of the plateau. After climbing about 600 feet we reach the top and had some easy level hiking for a mile. After reaching a vista over Laurel Run the trail descends once again to Laurel Run.
We had easy hiking for the rest of the trip as the trail followed an old woods road along Laurel Run, then followed a state forest road for a mile before returning to the woods for the last time. The trail follows Sanders Branch through the woods before making one final climb over a hill to Parker Dam and our cars. This came none too soon as it started raining about a mile before then end. We finished a 10 mile day around 12:30 pm.
Overall the northern part of the Quehanna loop is more challenging that the southern part as it is constant climbing in and out of the gorges and valleys carved out of the plateau. One thing is certain however, if you want solitude Quehanna is a place to find it. In backpacking the entire trail over 6 days now I have seen exactly one other hiker that entire time. Besides the Quehanna trail itself the numerous trails in the wild area offer some excellent scenery.
