I keep getting distracted by the bright yellow bracken, deep red maples, and the goldenrod bursting alongside the gravel roads. Luckily, with no traffic, I have enough room to correct my line when my eyes veer me off track. Fall is, hands down, my favorite time of year to spend exploring Pennsylvania State Forests. Even the roadside ditches are beautiful. For years, I would take a fly rod and venture up streams in search of native brook trout and wild brown trout in order to be engulfed by the autumn colors and musk of falling leaves. It was a great way to explore new places and get lost in the woods for a few hours. Then, during the pandemic, I realized I needed to get more exercise, so I dusted off my old Surly Cross Check and began riding my bicycle again.
I had forgotten how riding a bike quickly transports me to a place of easy, childhood joy. I can’t help but smile when I’m pedaling. Eventually, my buddies and I started exploring various state forests across the state in search of gravel roads and solitude. I put on wider tires, bought a fanny pack from Nittany Mountain Works and filled it with snacks, tire sealant, and tools, and quickly learned to love the way unpaved roads took me into and through landscapes. Gravel riding became another way for us to explore the incredible amount of public lands Pennsylvania has to offer. Now, we map our trips around wild trout streams and gravel roads we can ride for miles. Even after a few years of riding and exploring, we have only just begun to scratch the surface.
There are approximately 17,500 miles of gravel and unpaved roads across Pennsylvania. Thousands of miles of those winding, dusty, sometimes ungraded roads explore the 20 state forests and 124 state parks. These public lands not only offer gravel and dirt roads to ride, but streams to fish, trails to hike, and campsites where we can relax. Our rides start by looking over maps and tracing the roads that will take us to places new to us and that look interesting. The more remote, the better. The windier, the better. The more elevation gain? Usually better. Nearby place to get a cold drink and some food? That’s a plus, but not necessary. Cheap campsite? Perfect.
From there, we find a site that will work as a starting and ending point and weave together the climbs we want to suffer through and the descents we want to flow down and the vistas we want to stop at for snacks and drinks. We’ll make sure there’s a few blue lines nearby that hold wild trout (there always is, thankfully), and a trip is born. It’s easy to enjoy the 2.5 million acres of public land that Pennsylvania’s state Forests and parks have to offer if you’re willing to put in just a little planning. And here’s a look at three essential options to get you started.
Bald Eagle State Forest & Rothrock State Forest
Both of these adjacent forests are situated in the center of the state and offer an incredible amount of gravel riding opportunities. Some popular starting points for Rothrock are the Galbraith Gap and Coopers Gap parking areas. It’s easy to get lost on a combination of gravel and double track trails from both of those places and, with its abundant amount of single track, you can even weave in some technical riding if you’re up for the challenge. My personal favorite section in Bald Eagle State Forest is around Poe Paddy State Park. Longwell Draft is a super chunky, technical, and unforgiving trail that is an incredible joy to ride and navigate. Whether descending or ascending, be prepared for giant potholes and big rocks. Loop it into a longer ride with Strong Mountain Improvement and Paddy Mountain Road and enjoy the long, flowy descent into Poe Paddy State Park. From here, you can hit a variety of different types of trails. Penns Creek Path is also a super chill trail that connects with a variety of loops.
Post-Ride:
After a long day in the saddle, head to Elk Creek Café & Aleworks in Millheim for some great brews and food. Poe Paddy, Poe Valley, and Raymond R. Winter Campgrounds are great launch pads for exploring Bald Eagle State Forest from. Poe Paddy is a rustic campground with some electric sites and pit toilets. Poe Valley and Raymond R. Winter have amenities, including flush toilets, electric hook-ups, and showers.
If you are exploring Rothrock State Forest, grab a site at the rustic Penn-Roosevelt State Park. You can be in State College within a half hour in order to grab some good grub from a variety of places and stop in at Freeze Thaw Cycles, one of the coolest bike shops in Pennsylvania. Route 322 runs between them and State College to the north and Lewisburg to the east, which both offer plenty of places to stock up on any supplies.
Michaux State Forest
Stick to the Maryland/Pennsylvania border and ride a few loops through this area, which is full of history and good places to eat. Michaux has a great mixture of gravel roads and snow-mobile trails (think gated dirt roads with tall grass and no cars). It can be easily split into a northern half and a southern half. Both offer plenty of opportunities to put together various lengths of loops. For a northern loop, begin at Pine Grove Furnace State Park and find your way to Ridge Road or Piney Mountain Ridge Road. From there, throw together any combination of gravel, snowmobile trails, and even some singletrack in order to make your ride as long or as hard as you’d like.
For a southern loop, use Caledonia State Park as a beginning and ending point. From here, you can put together a loop anywhere from 15-45 miles using High Rock Road and Snowy Mountain Road. There are plenty of trails that intersect these two, enabling you to spend as long as you want exploring this part of the Appalachian Mountains. Depending on where you are coming from, I’d suggest stopping in at The Cycle Works in Wrightsville to grab some good coffee and any bicycle gear you may need.
Post-Ride:
Michaux Brew Co. in Waynesboro and Thirsty Farmer Brew Works are great options for post-ride food and beverage. Also, there’s a nice little concessionaire at Pine Grove Furnace State Park (the halfway point of the Appalachian Trail) that offers decent burgers and plenty of snacks and ice cream. Make a weekend out of it and take some time exploring Gettysburg or hike the A.T.
Cook Forest State Park
If you are in the western edge of the Pennsylvania Wilds, ride through the old growth hemlocks at this state park, which offers some great gravel roads. Cook Forest State Park is remotely situated just north of the Clarion River and is surrounded by thousands of acres of State Game Lands and the Allegheny National Forest. The route options are seemingly endless with a great mix of surface types. Take Tom’s Run Road and build loops that traverse State Game Lands and climb through forest service gravel roads. Whichever route you take, be sure to link in the swoopy roads and big bends along the Clarion River that will lead you back to your starting point.
Post-ride:
Reserve a site at Cook Forest State Park, which offers both tent and camper sites, flush toilets, and warm showers. Take a hike through the Forest Cathedral and marvel at the old growth hemlock, pine, and oak. Bring a fly rod and fish for some native brook trout in the small streams around the park. Float the Clarion River and bring a fishing rod along for some solid smallmouth bass. Head to the town of Clarion for food and check out Clarion Bicycle and Outdoor.
Join the Pack
If you are looking for structured rides with aid stations, planned routes, and tons of good people, Pennsylvania’s gravel scene has plenty of options. Seasons of Rothrock offers two rides: Whipple Dam Gravel Race in the spring and Rothrock Grit Gravel Grinder in the early summer. Both rides explore the incredible escarpments of the Allegheny Front through Rothrock State Forest.
The Pennsylvania Gravel Series hosts rides throughout the spring, summer, and fall across the state in locations like Michaux State Forest, Parker Dam, and Trough Creek. The fall brings in two great rides just weekends apart: The Public Lands Ride that takes you through the incredibly diverse ecosystem of Black Moshannon State Forest (all proceeds benefit the Pennsylvania Environmental Council), and UnPaved, which explores the various sections of Bald Eagle State Forest, including Poe Paddy State Park. For all your adventures, you’d be hard pressed to find a better resource than Purple Lizard Maps, which are incredibly detailed and informative when planning gravel rides.
Cover photo: Three Square Hollow Vista, Tuscarora State Forest. All photos by Michael Garrigan
