The Thunder Swamp Trail System is a little less known in northeastern Pennsylvania when compared to the Pinchot Trail System. It has a reputation for being hard to follow, and under maintained. There aren't any vistas or steep climbs, and is in fact one of the "flattest" backpacking trails I've come across in the northeast of the country, let alone the state.
What to do when looking for somewhere new to hike? Start looking for preserves, that's what. In the past few years more and more organizations like Wildlands Conservancy have been coming to my attention and they offer a whole new batch of areas to hike.
Looking for another night out solo in the woods, I headed to the Delaware State Forest for a short hike from the parking lot near Lake Minisink on Bushkill Falls Rd. along the Thunder Swamp Trail towards Saw Creek and the trails namesake, Thunder Swamp.
Table Mountain and Peekamoose Mountain are the 10th and 11th highest peaks in the Catskill Mountains. Dragon and I headed up to the parking area for the Slide Mountain trailhead to start our overnight backpacking trip. This trailhead connects you to many other trails as well.
I always love it when I can get out and do something outdoors with family. On this trip I take my niece Asya out for her first ever backpacking trip. Pinchot State Forest is perfect for these kinds of trips because there are so many ways to use the Pinchot Trail System along with various other trails, forest roads and other access roads to create a trip with plenty of options.
The 255 acre Aylesworth Park is located just outside of Jermyn, Pa in northern Lackawanna County. This county park has a four acre lake for fishing and swimming, a playground, soccer field, picnic pavilion and several hiking trails.
The Phoenicia East Branch Trail runs from Lane Street in Phoenicia, NY to the Denning Trailhead on Oliverea Rd. Although I've hike the entirety of this trail, I only went as far as Terrace Mountain on this trip. Trip took place between 02/26/2018 - 02/28/18.
The Pinchot Trail System is a 24 mile backpacking loop located in the Thornhurst Tract of the Pinchot State Forest, It can be hiked in it's 24 mile entirety or broken into the 10 mile North Loop or 14 mile South Loop. Other trails, forest roads and multi-use roads create an intricate system of trails and connectors which allow many variations for trips.
The Chuck Keiper Trail (CKT) is a 49.3 mile backpacking loop located in Pennsylvania's Sproul State Forest. It can be broken into 2 loops, East and West, by using the Cross-Connector Trail. This trail runs from the main parking lot on PA Route 144 southeast past the Little Beaver Swamp until it connects with the CKT at the southern edge of the State Forest. This makes the East Loop 22.4 miles long and the West Loop 32.9 miles.
