Black Forest Trail in May

Jake,

There’s another thread going on here:  Northeast(ish) Trip  Take a look at it too…

I’ve hiked about 1/3 of the BFT on a rather unpleasant April weekend (lots of rain and it was cold) a couple of years ago.  I’ll suggest that it’s a very tough trail for your first time out.  I live near Lancaster, PA and have taken about 7 first-timers on the Old Loggers Path.  It’s a pretty friendly trail and it’s a loop which will make it easier for you because you won’t have to shuttle cars.

Another loop hike that you can do with two nights on the trail is the eastern loop of the Allegheny Front Trail (near and through Black Moshannon State Park about 40 minutes from State College).

Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions about any of these trails or would like more info about them.

Thanks, Kevin. I’ll definitely look into it.

Black Forest trail is awesome. It is fairly rugged but doable. I did it in 3 nights, 4 days. Plenty of water when I went in mid October. IT was well marked except for one section that went down and back up.. But there were so many blow downs that we had to really take the time to figure where we were going and how to navigate thru the mess of trees .  Other then that 1 section, we had no problems at all staying in trail. We did get to see 2 baby cubs playing on the trail at about  6:30 AM on our final day .. Yeah, kind of scary because they split the trail in front of us, one going left side other going right side..but we stopped and waited a few minutes trying to think of a plan, and then the one that went up the hill side to the right came down and across the trail and ran down the hillside on the left.. We continued to wait a while longer and made plenty of noise and then decided to proceed cautiously. All was well and I was grateful to get to see the 2 cubs playing in their home.  If you have the  propper gear and a map and give yourself enough time, I would definitely recommend doing the Black Forest trail! Shoot me an email and I can show you some pictures of my trip if you would like. Dirtbaghiker@yahoo.com. I would love to join you, but unfortunately May will not work for me. Just went on a little trip in Catskills 2 ago and planning to go back at end of April to knock some more peaks off my 3500 list. Best of luck.. Be safe and enjoy it!!

here is a shot of navigating the blow downs that i was talking about. The picture does no justice..

Thanks for the info dirtbag. Sounds like you had a great time!

While on the topic of PA hikes, has anyone thru hiked the Loyalsock trail? All 59.2 miles end to end? I have the guide and maps and just came across them while going thru my map and guide bins. It’s a trail in PA that has been on my to do list. Already completed West Rim trail, Black Forest trail and the Allegehny Front trail. Not to hijack your thread but any info would be appreciated..

<p style=”text-align: left;”>@ Jake.. sooo.. did you ever end up doing Black Forest trail???</p>

No I didnt make it out there.  I wasnt able to find anyone willing to go. I have done a few (and gotten more comfortable with) solo trips this fall, so I’m planning to hit it in either the spring or fall next year even if I have to go alone.

Let me know some dates when u figure it out. I would do it again!!

if you ever want to hit the Catskills or Daks.. Let me know..feel free to email me anytime.. Dirtbaghiker@yahoo.com.

I will definitely take you up on that! I’ll be in touch once it’s a bit closer and I can get an idea of what my vacation schedule looks like.

Sounds good