The view of Pine Creek from the Ravens Horn along the Golden Eagle Trail in North Central Pennsylvania. (Compass Points Media / flickr) http://www.flickr.com/photos/compasspointsmedia/ / CC BY-ND 2.0
The northcentral portion of Pennsylvania is a wild and often overlooked section of America’s backcountry. While hordes of hikers flock to the New England mountains, trails in places like Tiadaghton State Forest north of Williamsport – stocked with canyon views and shadowy ravines – receives far less foot traffic.
One of the finest ways to see this vast region is on the Golden Eagle Trail in Tiadaghton County. The strenuous 8.7-mile trail climbs the side of two ravines to places with Tolkien-esque names like the Ravens Horn and Beulahland Vista and visits wide-bodied hemlocks and white pines. From the trailhead to the Golden Eagle’s highest point, hikers will climb 1,400 feet in the first half of this hike.
I love the Golden Eagle Trail for all seasons – winter, summer, fall, but with several stream crossings, this can be quite difficult if the water is high.
DIRECTIONS: Jump onto U.S. 220-PA 14 west of Williamsport and take the exit for PA 44. Go northward. That road will take you 12 miles to the intersection with PA 414, where you turn right and drive for 11.3 miles. The trail head parking lot is on the west side of PA 414 in the Clark Recreation Area after the village of Cammal. If you arrive in the village of Slate Run, you’ve gone too far and you need to turn around on PA 414.
Looking into Tioga County from Beulahland Vista on the Golden Eagle Trail, Pa. (Compass Points Media / flickr) http://www.flickr.com/photos/compasspointsmedia/ / CC BY-ND 2.0
HIKE ON: Carefully cross PA 414 to where the sign marks the start of the orange-blazed Golden Eagle Trail and immediately enter a shadowy forest cradling Bonnell Run. Come to a trail junction after about a third of a mile, and turn right. For the next mile, the trail winds up the wall of the drainage for a thigh-burning 600 feet through a woods of oak and maple. Reach the crest, then begin to descend to the rock outcrop known as the Ravens Horn at 1.6 miles. Enjoy the breeze coming up out of the drainage. The view is southward of Pine Creek, the same river that cuts the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon in Tioga County to the north.
All that elevation gain, you’re going to lose it fast. Descend about 600 from the Ravens Horn for about three-quarters of a mile to the shore of Wolf Run where you arrive at a trail juncture. Turn left and head into the steep ravine. Look for sandstone cliffs, which as one guidebook describes is the “backbone” of the ridge. Watch for piles of rock and old stoves, evidence of past quarry and timber work. The trail crisscrosses the creek several times, and look for the wide trunks of hemlock and white pine. Great photo opportunity – try to put your arms around one and rejoice that trees that big still exist, treehugger.
Arrive at the top of the ridge after about 2.5 miles of hiking and continue following the orange blazes through areas where the path is undefined (save for the blazes). At five miles, arrive at Beulahland Vista, peering the pastoral Tioga County. Quite a different look than what you get at Ravens Horn.
Back on the trail, look for another vista after just a third of a mile, this time peering back into the Bonnell Run ravine, where at the bottom your car is parked. Check out how creeks like Bonnell have cut the plateau into a spider web of canyons. After 5.5 miles of hiking, turn left as the trail descends into Bonnell Run. Stay left at a trail juncture, and follow the orange blazes as it drops 1,400 feet over 3.2 miles, zigzagging across Bonnell Run. Look for the juncture you took to the Ravens Horn after about 2.7 miles and stay straight as the path leads you back to PA 414 and your car.
