The Tuscarora Trail is located within the Tuscarora State Forest and is a branch off of the famous Appalachian Trail. My experience largely matched my expectation: there were relatively few hikers on the trail, and, I only met a handful of other people who were attempting to hike the whole trail (though, no one that was thru-hiking). Check out the Trail Finder feature or send Erin a message. Generally considered a challenging route, it takes an average of 3 h 0 min to complete. I'm not sure how else to describe this part other than "dead". Going into Shenandoah backwards was very weird, and I did not recall a substantial portion of that part of the AT from my 2016 thru-hike. Get to know this 6.1-mile loop trail near Concord, Pennsylvania. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. The BMT can only carry a small number of overnight hikers, because its designers intentionally did not set aside space for large number of hikers to camp. We have never seen other hikers on this route. They built bridges, campsites, and shelters. Since the trailhead is located in a neighborhood, there is no parking lot. No direct access to northernterminus, but can be accessed from the Lucas Woods side trail with road access at WV 23/2 (39.183,-78.432). Advisory: Exercise caution in the Buchanan State Forest during hunting season. Carry lots of water. Turn right on the unblazed forestry road. The PATC is dedicatedto providing a challengingand rewarding hiking experience alongthe Tuscarora Trail, which is more remote and rugged than the AT. Yes, all roads. You should verify critical information such as directions, park hours, gate closings, blaze colors and specific regulations (pet policies, firearm/hunting regulations, etc.) Most other water sources fell somewhere in-between. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". Highlights: Pinnacleoverlook, Laurel Run Falls. Max Elevation:2400 ft. Min Elevation: 790 ft. Last year, I completed a thru-hike of the Tuscarora Trail, along with a stretch along the Appalachian Trail to form a loop. By contrast, the Tuscarora does have plenty of shelters (and hikers are encouraged to use them), and with only a couple of exceptions, they are reasonably well-spaced. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. Did see a very big bears butt as it ran away from me trying to catch a picture. Part of why it took me so long to write this post is that the Tuscarora is a hard trail for me to like. It stretches from Mathews Arm in Virginia to Sterretts Gap in Pennsylvania. I also noted ice on some streams and frozen over puddles that didn't seem tempted to thaw. We ended up going further down the road then we needed to and then hiked the loop in reverse by accident. Thanks to all the volunteers for their hard work getting them in and up on the trail. The sign marking VA and WV was cool. Further, I expected there would be days where I saw nobody else. Youll arrive at a platform at the 1.8-mile mark. Information on this site is presented with intent to be as accurate as possible at the time of posting, but it is provided as is and we accept no responsibility for any loss, injury or inconvenience sustained by anyone resulting from this information. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. You will see a mostly grassy trail to the right of the Biby Wilderness Trail sign. So yeah, it was a nice day but not much to look at other than service roads for the majority of the hike. This is a beautiful shelter and the trail, although rocky, appears well maintained on this tiny section I hiked. This is the Doll Ridge section from Three Top Mountain to Riverview Drive. To detour this section, please consult the updates page for current detour information. Va Route 698, Basore Ridge Shelter access (39.323, -78.258). The ridge walk itself was not nearly asinteresting as I thought it would be either, but that may have had something to do with the constant tick removal we were doing at that point. Please contact John Stacy atjstacy@patc.netwith any questions. It also turned out to be a rather long day. With the exception of Maryland, every state on the Tuscarora had great ridge-top views. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". The first 3 miles were uphill via the switchbacks, which were decentlymarked. On balance, was nice to revisit that section of the AT again. Please respect the landowner's decision. Trail conditions and routes may be subject to frequent and unannounced change. The spring is not great but it is water and it seems better than yesterdays spring. Exercisecaution in Buchanan State Forest during hunting season. Turn left for Pinnacle Camp. This made the need for maintenance in Maryland almost nonexistent. Perhaps a bit cold up on top in the wintertime (of course that's what fires are for, lol, and there is a spot for one at the shelter). The trail on top of the ridge is neat with what appeared to be apple trees, and nice views through the trees on both sides of the ridge. Difficultly: The stated difficultly is 4. Follow the trail for 0.5 miles where it merges with the yellow blazed Vance's Cove Trail. The views from the ridge, well, they left something to be desired. For more information, visit the PATC TT60 Challenge page. Highlights:Great Eastern Trail joins/leaves the TT from/on Standing Stone Trail in Cowans Gap State Park. The footing is precarious with loose stone for the majority of the descent. The Great Eastern Trail is roughly 1600 miles long, a consists of a patchwork of other trails and roadwalks that will eventually stretch from the northern terminus of the Florida Trail, to the North Country Trail. A lot of rotted and dying trees and there were a couple of signs about chemicals that had been applied, so who knows. We had no problem getting to Wardensville but once we got to Great North Mountain we couldn't really tell where to park. US Route 50, limited shoulder parking (39.268, -78.314). I personally thought the third one had the most superior vistas. The information available on this site, including without limitation, overviews, opinions,directions, GPS data, photographs, (collectively "Content") may contain information relating to a hazardous activity. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. To an extent, the Tuscarora is largely what I expected: remote, isolated, and with few people. Sleeping was pleasant and we were up early since we knew we had nearly seven and a half miles of road walking to start the day. Being out of hiking shape (and with it hot and high humidity), the Roller Coaster section of West Virginia was brutal. This is a beautiful shelter and the trail, although rocky, appears well maintained on this tiny section I hiked. We realized it about 2 miles in but decided to keep going. The Tuscarora runs through Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. The Tuscarora is a bypass route of the Appalachian Trail (AT) that is about 250 miles long. Once you reach the trailhead, you are near the top of the mountain, so of course, the hike begins with a descent. This trail soon re-connects with the blue-blazed Tuscarora Trail. Primitive camping is allowed throughout the Tuscarora State Forest. Follow the ridge for 1.0 miles and arrive at Gerhard Shelter. Max Elevation: 2080ft. Min Elevation: 525ft. Access:The trail can be accessed from both the southern and northern termini of section 8: Additional trail connections in SGL-124 include: Alice Trail, Reese Hollow Trail, Hells Hill Trail, Yellow Trail, Advisory:No primitive camping allowed in SGL #124. Photos from previous days were youll uploaded but you have to go to the bottom of each days post to see that days photos. It connects to the AT near Harrisburg and in Shenandoah National Park (SNP). This means that hikers generally must hike shelter-to-shelter, which in a couple of cases forces some relatively long days. This allowed me to get my backpacks base weight down to around 10 lbs, while still including my puffy jacket and ultralight rain jacket for supplemental warmth at camp if needed. But with the temperature dropping, the hour getting laterand the fog severely limiting visibility, I chickened out and retraced my steps back down to the forest service road and the warmth of my car's heater. Chincoteague Island: A Relaxing Hike on the Woodland & Bivalve Trails, Massanutten Hiking Trails: Massanutten Ridge & Kaylors Knob in McGaheysville, Virginia, Mountain Lake Lodge: 3 Scenic Hikes for Dirty Dancing Fans in Pembroke, Virginia, Strickler Knob: An Eye-Pleasing Rock Scramble Hike Near Luray, Virginia, Mostly dirt and rock trails, some grass and rock scrambles. Tuscarora Trail I'm in the early planning stages to hike the Northern section of the Tuscarora Trail (Darlington Shelter to Hancock, MD) in May 2012. This does give a nice experience, but then to balance my comments, the views weren't over the top. PATC Map L, Guide to the South Half of the Tuscarora Trail. Hardly any views as trees were blocking but nevertheless,indeed a solace-finding trail. I Did this in 5 hrs with 120 pictures taken. This is an easily accessible parking area with room for a half dozen cars. I really enjoyed myself. I would guess a phone could be had here in an emergency. Water can be obtained at the spring down the hill, but keep in mind that it's a 1.2 mile round trip Day 1 Mileage:4.7 miles Day 1 Gross Elevation Gain: 1,474 Day 1 Gross Descent: 1,003 Max Elevation: 760 ft. Min Elevation: 380 ft. Access:The trail can be accessed from both the northern and southern termini of section 9: End of Licking Creek Access Road (39.657, -78.055), Camp Harding Park on Pectonville Road (39.670,-78.041), Advisory:Exercise caution in Indian Springs WMA during hunting season. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Primitive camping is allowed throughout the Bucahan State Forest with a free permit. Weather was crisp and perfect. On the AT these include Birch Run, Deer Lick, Rocky Mountain, Quarry Run, Toms Run, and Tumbling Run. The trail is generally very well marked and easy to follow, but the leaf covering made some of the switchbacks hard todiscern in a number of places. A somewhat similar tail to the Tuscarora is the Benton MacKaye Trail, located in Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Tuscarora Trail At the trail sign, turn left onto the southbound section of the 252-mile Tuscarora Trail. There is another nice shelter here. At one point we misread the map and missed the turn on to Vance's Cove trail as well, which ultimately increased our total distance to about 13 miles. Get to know this 8.5-mile loop trail near Newville, Pennsylvania. To see more signs and volunteers installing them, The Tuscarora Trail section just west of Massanutten Mountain is closed due to loss of landowner permission. There were 5-6 other cars in the parking area (not too big of a spot). Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. I didn't get lost either, which is always a plus. In terms of gear malfunctions per mile, the Tuscarora Trail was my worst. The forestry road is normally closed to motorized traffic, unless your hiking during hunting season (bad idea!). I hiked this two days ago on Saturday with my wife, my sister-in-law and her boyfriend. The information available on this site, including without limitation, overviews, opinions,directions, GPS data, photographs, (collectively "Content") may contain information relating to a hazardous activity. But there were a couple of days where, had I not lucked out by running into trail maintainers who offered to plant water caches for me in two places, I would have had two days where I would have had very long water carries, one of which would have been over very rough and rocky terrain. You should verify critical information such as directions, park hours, gate closings, blaze colors and specific regulations (pet policies, firearm/hunting regulations, etc.) At the shelter, the white trail would be at your 10 o'clockposition if you were in the shelter and looking out (I didn't note a blaze on the trail until going down the trail a bit). Access: The trail can be accessed by road from both the northern and southern termini of section 6: Parking at Cowans Gap State Park (39.999,-77.921), Limited shoulder parking onFannettsburg Road (40.061, -77.864), Additional trail connections in the Buchanan State Forest include:Bird Run Trail, Ellisic Trail, Allen Trail, Cove Trail, Sharpe Trail, Fox Trail Wagner Trail, Horseshoe Trail,StandingStone Trail. With a "short" 10.8 mile day planned, I didn't get up terribly early. Looks like cell service is good here. At the .3-mile mark, you will reach a sign for the Allegheny View and a yellow-blazed spur trail. Pennsylvania, though, had very uneven maintenance; some areas were very well maintained, while others were very poorly kept. And this is part of the BMTs charm. Location: Gravel Springs Hut (66.4 miles) Tags: Appalachian Trail, Shenandoah National Park, Tuscarora Trail, Virginia. To the left of the overlook, you will see a white-blazed trail, which basically runs parallel to the Tuscarora Trail, but also runs alongside several more overlooks. PATC Map J, Guide to the North Half of the Tuscarora Trail. Camping is limited to one night without a permit. This section of the Tuscarora Trail has several overlooks, highlighted by one at Terrapin Spring near the southern end, and the Paul Gerhard Shelter at the midpoint. Temperatures in the mid eighties. At the ridge, the trail flattens out somewhat to a much more gradual ascent and is anoutstanding walk. The views are excellent. The trailhead is located in the Shawneeland neighborhood, which is situated on a small mountain. (The Tuscarora loops around the north end of the mountain.) The best view is from the top of the scramble. Stay to the left and you will re-enter the forest by way of the yellow-blazed Frye Path. Tags: Pennsylvania, Tuscarora Trail Today is the penultimate day of my Tuscarora Trail thru-hike, to the northernmost shelter on the Tuscarora, the Charlie Irvin Shelter. The trail in Virginia and West Virginia was mostly well-maintained, and there were only a few areas where the trail was overgrown and a nuisance to hike on. Also, I have in mind a thru-hike of the 71-mile Massanutten Trail, which circles the ridge of Massanutten Mountain. For more information, visit. Max Elevation:2515 ft. Min Elevation:670 ft. Turn right on the blue blazed trail. he trail can be accessed by road from both the northern and southern termini of section 5: he trail can be accessed by road from both the northern and southern termini of section 6: Limited shoulder parking onFannettsburg Road (. http://www.meetup.com/CharityHikers/calendar/13157584/http://hiking.meetup.com/162/calendar/13157640/, 3D A beautiful day for Labor Day weekend of 2010. The shelter was pretty cool, and I would like to return to stay up here for a night. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. In addition to funding this website, part of the REI grant has been used by PATC volunteers to design and purchase hundreds of new full-color directional signs that will guide hikers through the entire 250 miles. Approximately 23 miles of this hiking trail cross the Tuscarora State Forest. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". Camping: Reese Hollow Shelter (39.852, -77.979), PATC Little Cove Cabin (by reservation only). The Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, along with other hiking organizations maintains the Tuscarora Trail, and in partnership with REI is promoting the trail as long distance hiking resource in the Midatlantic. I didn't see it but I believe one does exist.
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