Just did a short overnight on the Pine Creek Rail Trail, so thought I would write up some notes. This 63-mile trail runs through the Pine Creek Gorge (also known as "The Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania") located in north-central PA on a former railbed. The finely crushed gravel trail surface is very well kept and easily accomodates 3-4 across. There's a 1% downhill grade going north to south, so it's a very easy ride.
We were coming from 4 hours away, so we just planned a short ride this time. We arrived in Wellsboro around noon, and before getting the bikes off the cars had lunch at "The Roost." It's a comfortable pub with a fairly extensive menu — lots of options for everyone. From there it was just 3 miles to the northern trailhead, which is where we parked the cars and started loading up the bikes.
The camping options along the trail are a little confusing to understand from the various websites, but basically you need a permit to camp in the state forest, which is what the trail runs through. There are 4 campgrounds along the way; we planned to camp at Tiadaghton Campground, at mile marker 16.
Due to travel time, lunch, parking, and setup, it was 2:30 before we were rolling on the trail, hence the reason we only planned for 16 miles. Now that we know how everything works, and where the other campsites are, I can see how we'd plan a 2-night excursion to cover the entire 63 miles (assuming same start time of about 2:30 on day 1).
Anyway, we covered the 16 miles in under an hour and a half, and arrived at the campground which is directly off the trail, along the bank of the creek. There are about 10-12 campsites well spaced out; each with a fire ring and picnic tables. We set up camp just before a light shower came through, which was immediately followed by sun and some cool rainbows.
The camping area is served by 2 concrete bathroom structures with pit toilets. There is no water or power, but the bathrooms were clean and about as nice as you could have for a pit toilet. There was a water pump, but the water is not tested and the pump was not functioning anyway. So we had to rely on the stream and Katadyn filters for replenishing our water supply.
We packed in freeze-dried meals for dinner and I have to give a shout-out here to the "Peak Refuel" brand. I brought the chicken coconut curry and it was delicious — probably the best freeze-dried meal I've ever had. After dinner we had to forage for wood for a fire, as there is no firewood supplied. Somehow we managed to find enough to get a fire going and keep it burning late into the evening.
In the morning we decided to do a little exploring after breakfast, so we left camp and rode down a few miles south before turning around. Back at camp we packed up everything and headed back to the cars, for a total of 24 miles. Since it was now noon, we decided to visit "The Roost" again for lunch before departing for home.
It was a fun trip, and I think if we come again we'll plan to do the whole trail over 3 days and 2 nights. It's a little tricky for us being 4 hours away; if we were to arrive a day before and overnight before hitting the trail we could easily do the 63 miles in 1 or 2 days.
by golden_light_above_u