/out/ - Outdoors » Thread #2494462

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Anonymous Thu 10 Nov 2022 20:59:24 No.2494462 View View Reply Original Report

Does anyone have recommendations for cool places to go in NW Pennsylvania / NE Ohio?

Or websites where you can find trails and stuff? Going to be here for a few months, love hiking/camping in winter but idk anything about /out/ here

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 10 Nov 2022 22:58:55 No.2494522 Report

Quoted By: >>2494537 >>2494739

>>2494462
This is a good place to start for Pennsylvania
https://pawilds.com/map/

Allegheny National Forest and Pine Creek Gorge have good hiking, camping and backpacking opportunities. There are long-distance trails in the state forests including the Quehanna Trail and Black Forest Trail with camping areas that will likely be vacant in winter. See this page for regulations:
https://www.dcnr.pa.gov/Recreation/WhatToDo/StayOvernight/BackpackingAndPrimitiveCamping/Pages/default.aspx

Kinzua Bridge, Austin Dam, and Drake Well are interesting historical sites with hiking trails near them. Other places I'd recommend are Cook Forest (old growth forest), Beartown Rocks (massive boulders that you can explore year-round), and Shades Beach (has bluffs rising above the Lake Erie shoreline).

NE Ohio doesn't have as much. There's Cuyahoga Valley National Park and Cleveland's metroparks for dayhiking, some lakes, and small waterfalls. SE Ohio is a little better with Hocking Hills and Wayne National Forest.

In SW New York, there's decent skiing in Ellicottville that attracts visitors from NY, PA, Ohio, and Ontario. Little Rock City just south of there is fascinating, especially in the middle of winter. The North Country Trail runs through it and there are free campsites and "lean-to" shelters that don't require a permit. 1-2 hours east of there is the Finger Lakes region which has a ton of waterfalls and good ice climbing if you're into that.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 10 Nov 2022 23:31:34 No.2494537 Report

Quoted By: >>2494564 >>2494739

YES. I have tons. Where are you going to be staying? Where you make your homebase determines a lot.

>>2494522
>Beartown Rocks (massive boulders that you can explore year-round),
u can also just drive basically almost to a little structure that gives you a great view there as well

PA has a LOT of sites with info:
https://uncoveringpa.com/
https://pabucketlist.com/
This is technically not just PA but it has a TON of interesting PA-specific hikes in it:
https://myhikes.org/
You will need micro-spikes for winter hiking. Does your car have 4wd and winter tires? If you plan to do anything off a dirt road, know that it likely won't be maintained.
The best views are at Minister Creek Trail, also a loop you can backpack, also very popular. Good views off of the Twin Sisters Trail in the Hammersley Wild Area. But really you can just pick a wild area and explore. They are harder to access but if you want an adventure.
There's lots of easier family stuff in Ohiopyle in SW PA.
>Going to be here for a few months
where is here?
>NE Ohio doesn't have as much
Piatt Park has a lil gorge that takes you down to a waterfall with some cool rock formations.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 11 Nov 2022 00:30:41 No.2494564 Report

Quoted By: >>2494739 >>2494796

>>2494537
>The best views are at Minister Creek Trail
The main viewpoint at Minister Creek is decent and the others are kinda meh. Rimrock and Jake's Rocks are the other worthwhile ones in ANF. The better views at Pine Creek blow everything at ANF out of the water imo. For the OP it'll be worth making the extra drive at least once while he's here.
I'll second your website recommendations, particularly myhikes which gives the real deal on some of the trails out that way. Endlessmountains @ Wordpress is another good one and Purple Lizard has some great maps of the area. There's always CalTopo as well.
Snow tires are def a must on the backroads in winter. Deer are also a major hazard if you'll be driving out here in the next month or two.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 11 Nov 2022 12:35:24 No.2494739 Report

Quoted By: >>2494796 >>2494824

>>2494522
Thanks, this helps a lot
>>2494537
Thank you too, home base is near hermitage
>>2494564
Yeah honestly the amount of roadkill is shocking. I guess there are just more animals in the forest here

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 11 Nov 2022 16:21:21 No.2494796 Report

Quoted By: >>2494797

>>2494564
>The better views at Pine Creek
I mean Pine Creek is great and all but I think Minister Creek is special.
>>2494739
I drove past two bloody deer messes yesterday alone.
Really, the North Central part of PA is the most special, sort of between Scranton on the east, and Warren, PA on the West. There's tons of state forests that have wild areas that you can explore. PA is pretty good about providing maps (some of which are georeferenced) and GPS coordinates of where to drive.
Depending on what kind of vehicle you have and what kind of tires, there's plenty of dirt roads that lead to an overlook, sometimes with an option to hike right from there.
Closer to you is Oil City state park. And Youngstown Ohio has Lanterman's mill and trails along that creek I think between the town and the mill.
Also, Hearts Content scenic area has some beautiful old growth.
But I would try to make it out to Elk State Forest, Tioga State Forest, or Sproul State Forest if you have time. There's lots of nice stuff in there.
Don't forget to check out Ohiopyle as well. Touristy but nice (bring your own food!).

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 11 Nov 2022 16:22:23 No.2494797 Report

Quoted By:

>>2494796
oil creek state park*

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 11 Nov 2022 17:49:31 No.2494824 Report

Quoted By: >>2498170

>>2494739
>hermitage
If you were there in summer, I would recommend Pymatuning Reservoir which has very good boating and paddling. You can go ice fishing there if you're into that and have the equipment for it. Misery Bay at Presque Isle is another good spot for that. PA has 1, 3 and 7 day temp fishing licenses that run from $27-35 for OOS residents. Ohio's tourist fishing licenses run from $14 (one-day) to $25 (for three days).

Being right off I-80, you could also drive to Central PA and hike part of the Standing Stone Trail, Mid-State Trail, and Tuscarora Trail. The SST has some excellent dayhiking options like Thousand Steps and Throne Room. Very rocky and scenic hikes with superb views.
This site also has useful info for hiking and backpacking in the area:
https://www.summitpost.org/northern-allegheny-plateau/171825

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 16 Nov 2022 03:43:53 No.2496854 Report

Quoted By: >>2496873

Nice hills least coaster

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 16 Nov 2022 04:23:03 No.2496873 Report

Quoted By:

>>2496854
at least we aren't in a drought

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 19 Nov 2022 07:18:20 No.2498170 Report

Quoted By:

>>2494824
Vouch. Pymatuning is great, linesville is great, everything in the surrounding area is nice. There's a race track near linesville I went to a couple times a long time ago. I've only been to Pymatuning a handful of times in my life, but it's great.

If you're willing to go western PA in general, Raccoon Creek is great as well. (Pymatuning is admittedly better though).

Franklin PA is a good town to visit. One of my favorite towns.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 19 Nov 2022 08:29:48 No.2498182 Report

Quoted By:

Heart's Content in PA has a cool old growth forest. I have been winter camping at Heart's Content for over 20 years.
NE Ohio has tons of lakes and reservoirs. Kayaking is a lot of fun around here but it's almost all stillwater. Fishing is pretty good too.

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