Ralford.net

  [Hiking]

I was reading this Spring's MST newsletter and found a blurb about a hike near State College. It mentioned Detweiler Run, and a road or two I remembered from a previous Mid State Trail hike, so I took the afternoon to do an 8.2 mile loop hike in the same area.

I drove East of State College on route 322 until I was over the mountain, and made a right on Stone Creek Road, just past the runaway truck ramp. From there, I took a paved road about 8 miles back towards Alan Seeger Natural Area. I then took another right onto an unpaved road called Bear Meadows Road (though there was no sign at the turn). A mile or two up the hill was a switchback (towards the left) and a gate (on the right) - the MST crossed here. I parked at the gate and started my hike around 1:15pm.

I began the hike headed Northbound on the MST. This took me down the hill from the gate to Detweiler Run. Instead of following the MST at the creek (left at the "T"), I made a right, and looped South towards Stone Creek Road. At the road, I didn't cross, but headed back North up the mountain on a trail called the Long Mountain Trail (parallel to Detweiler Run). At the top I made a left onto Thickhead Mountain Road (which is more of a horse trail than it is a road). This eventually intersected the MST, which I followed Southbound along Detweiler Run until I reached my car and the gate at Bear Meadows Road. It was about 5:00pm.

The hike took about four hours, but would have been a shorter if I didn't miss my left onto the MST on Thickhead Mountain Road (my bad). It was very enjoyable, but at the same time, tired me out on the uphill section of the Long Mountain Trail. Fortunately, I saw a turkey bolt through the woods on this stretch, which was a great excuse to have a slug of water and catch my breath.

If you have a copy of the 10th edition MSTA guide and trail maps, you can find the hike on map 203. The loop length of 8.2 miles is an estimate I came up with using the map and guide: the loop is roughly twice the distance from the gate to Penn Roosevelt State Park (2 * 6.57 = 13.14 km ~ 8.2 mi).

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