am planning on doing a UL Solo hike coming up in May. I have narrowed my trail selection down to the Susquehannock Trail or the Quehanna Trail both located in northcentral pennsylvania.

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with these trails and can offer some insight such as camping spots, water availability, trail quality, etc.

Please let me know if you have any useful information, thanks!

Ian,

Do you have the trailbook/map for the Quehanna Trail?

I haven't done the whole thing, but did do a part of it. Enjoyed it quite a bit. Parts of it are quite rocky, but it is PA.

Chuck Dillon at Pine Creek Outfitters also has a guide to the Susquehannock Trail that's pretty reasonable at $11.50. Both trails are on my list to do...

The Allegheny Front Trail is also a great trail. I did the whole loop and really enjoyed it.

The Sesquehannock Trail System (the orange blaze trail) is THE best trail I've ever backpacked in the east, including large sections of the AT in Virginia. The STS links several other great trails like The Black Forest Trail, that's why they call it a "system".

GOOGLE the STS and buy their excellent guidebook & three custom topo maps. Well worth the price. I love that trail. At about 5:30 on the loop is a tiny hamlet W/a Post Office where you can send the food, etc. for your last 1/2 of the trail. The 1st two weeks of October are spectacular for fall colors.

BTW, the Northern Gateway (trailhead) has safe parking at the PA Forestry's parking lot. A short 1/2 mile trail gets you to the STS.

(Also, I did a big part of the Quehanna Trail and was not impressed.)

Edited by Danepacker on 03/01/2010 15:10:36 MST.

I did the Quehanna trail loop several years ago in June. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Water was never a worry and no problem with bugs. I only saw 2 hikers the whole trip (I did it during the week) so if you like isolation, this is a good choice. Here is a link to pictures I took: http://picasaweb.google.com/mnferwerda

I've never have done the STS though
Mark

I did a small portion of the Susquehannock last July and thoroughly enjoyed it. I really like the fact that it is (very) lightly used.

I've yet to hike the Quehanna but I am active in the STC club that maintaines the STS trail. We just put together a website that provides quite a bit of info on the trail. It's still a work in progress but you might want to give it a look.

http://www.stc-hike.org/

I've been working on the trail off and on this winter. It looks in pretty good shape but will be getting out in the next few weeks with the other folks to give it a spring cleaning. We just had high winds and know of new blow downs that need cut up but certainly passable.

I'll be hiking the loop May 8th - 16th. I've done it in 5 days but I've decided to take it easy this year and try my best not to return home too soon .

Some thoughts, Black gnats have been bad in the upper part of the loop the last few years later in May. So I am giving it a go earlier this year. Water is not a problem, I would say a source every 5 miles or so. Just two wet crossings I can think of that could be high but not very wide.

If you have any specific questions about trail heads mileage between points etc just let me know. I work just 15 min. away from the northern section. I can even help out with a food drop if you dont want to carry all the food at once. This old guy doesn't any more

Forgot to mention, clock wise on the STS you'll cross Rt 44 at the old Fire Tower. Take the time to turn right and walk couple hundred feet down the paved Rt 44 to a parking area and look out over the Cherry Springs Vista. Its one of the finest in the county and will display the expanse of the lower 3/4 of the STS loop. Its worth the short walk before descending into the Hogback hollow area.

So which did you choose?

hey everyone, thanks for the insight. i have chosen to do the quehanna trail and will begin on April 30 and should take about 4 days. hopefully the gnats are not too bad. Any suggesstions on good campsites?

I have hiked the Quehanna Trail in June 2010 and documented many of the established campsite locations (GPS coordinates). These sites contain one or more fire ring and accomodate 2 to 6 hikers.

The summary of campsites are listed here.
http://www.zinnware.com/HighAdv/Quehanna_Trail/Quehanna_Trail_Campsite_Summary.htm

I will post a more complete GPS data about the trip here. This includes Garmin Custom Maps that can be used in many outdoor Garmin GPS units:
http://www.zinnware.com/HighAdv/Quehanna_Trail/index.html