Congrats! You have been chosen to be in a research study! I am doing research on litter in campsites, in Pennsylvania. So if you have ever camped in PA before please consider filling out my survey! It is completely anonymous and only takes 2 minutes 🤩 tysm

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Across the road from the Clark Farm/Utceter Station Recreational Parking Area in Cammal (the trailhead for the Golden Eagle Trail), there's a road sign for the Bonnell Cemetery. I hiked up there and found the cemetery but there's no information around and most of the headstone engravings have eroded. FindAGrave has a good amount of basic info about some of the people with larger headstones, but I don't think all of the smaller fieldstones are accounted for. Does anyone know more about this cemetery or the family that's buried there?

are there any? where you can fish and boil water and live in nature for awhile?

Is there backpacking allowed in and around Jim Thorpe? I see plenty of trails on gps, is there primitive camping on these trails? I am planning a trip for spring! Thanks for any info!

Looking for information and stories of any and all things paranormal in the Benezette, Driftwood, and basically Allegheny National Forest area. Me and my wife had a really weird experience from there and want to know history and lore of the area.

Anybody know any good areas in pa to take photographs of wood ducks ?

Example in Black Moshannon state park and another example in Rothrock state forest. If you were to buy these homes, how much property do you own? What are the limitations of what you're allowed to do?

I'm an experienced backpacker and bushwhacker who recently moved to eastern Ohio. It looks like the ANF is a fantastic place for off-trail hiking and camping, especially the Hickory Creek Wilderness. I can't wait to go explore.

Do you have any recommendations for back-country routes in the ANF? I'd love to find some great campsites or vistas that you can't see from a main trail.

I'm looking for a bit of a unicorn spot. I'm hoping for recs on camping (tent) adjacent to a creek that is safe for a child to play in. Ideally Western PA/near OH or NY border. I'm looking near Cook's Forest, Allegany, Ohiopyle, etc.

Hi all!

Hoping to accomplish OLP in 2ish days over a weekend in January. I'm nervous about the crossing over Pleasant Stream during a polar vortex. Has anyone done this trail in truly frigid weather, and if so, can you offer some wisdom?

Thanks!

Place is so great.

Hi All,

Buddy and I are looking to head out in the spring on our first backpacking trip. Newbies, so keeping it to a weekend trip. We’re outside Philly and looking for good loop trail within 2 hours.

So far I’ve landed at Pinchot Trail. Planning on a Friday-Sunday trip. Understandably it won’t take 2 full days to hike it all, leaving plenty of time to relax and unwind.

Does anyone have any other recommendations for a hiking trail in the 18-22 mile range for 2 nights.

Thanks!

It finally happened—we saw the northern lights on October 10th, 2024! Right here in north-central PA, deep in the woods with minimal light pollution. During two substorms, we watched as the colors shifted right before our eyes once our vision adjusted to the dark.

Some fun facts for you:

The Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, is one of nature's most spectacular light shows caused by charged particles from the sun colliding with Earth's atmosphere. These particles interact with gases like oxygen and nitrogen, creating vibrant displays, particularly in polar regions. But during a solar storm, even places like Pennsylvania can catch the show.

While our eyes can pick up the aurora, cameras often capture it in richer detail. Why? Cameras can hold a long exposure, gathering light over several seconds, while our eyes only process light in real time. Our vision relies on rod cells (for low-light vision) and cone cells (for color), but our rods dominate in the dim light of the aurora. Cameras use technology to gather color and light more effectively in darker conditions.

What causes the colors, you may ask?

The colors in the northern lights depend on the type of gas particles the solar particles are hitting and the altitude where these collisions happen:

Greens are the most common color, caused by oxygen at lower altitudes (around 60 miles above the Earth).

Reds occur when oxygen is hit at higher altitudes (above 150 miles).

Blues and Purples are caused by nitrogen molecules reacting with solar particles.

These variations in gas and altitude explain why the aurora can shift between colors during a single display.

For my shots, I used a shutter speed of 10-15 seconds, which allowed the camera to soak in enough light to bring out the colors and capture the sharp, downward lines of the aurora, known as pillars. It's amazing to realize that what you're seeing is the magnetic pull of solar storm particles hitting Earth’s magnetic field!

P.S. I'm selling prints of these—let me know if you're interested.

Hey y’all,

I am not sure if this is the best sub to ask this question, but I thought I might as well since you folks have always been so helpful with my questions.

I really got into the idea of winter hot tent camping over the past few months and I have finally accumulated the things to go out and stay in the outdoors during frigid weather. I already have a very good hot tent and tent stove + all the bits and pieces to make this happen.

I am planning a 2 day winter “glamping” trip with my fiancé around Christmas break. She’s fairly new to camping and especially given that it’s winter camping, I want to make sure she has a very good experience. I think I have pretty much everything required to make this happen except for a good camp site in mind.

Here are some parameters I have in mind to help select a camping site:

• drive in by car
• <2 hour drive from Pittsburgh, but willing to go further for a site that fits all parameters
• must have a toilet
• ideally the toilet has running water
• even better would be hot showers, but not a hard requirement
• ideally has a tent platform
• view of a lake/ricer or mountain would be very nice
• fairly secluded, but does not have to be super remote
• a tent platform would be very nice to have
• public parks or private campsites are okay

I know this is a lot of asks, but I am trying to go for a perfect winter glamping experience to celebrate our engagement and get my fiancé into the idea of winter camping (which I am also new two)

Any recommendations would be awesome and very much appreciated!

P.S: we will drive in with all the required firewood for the 2 days, so access to firewood on site is not a requirement

Edit: okay, so it sounds like brining my own firewood is a bad idea, so I won’t be doing that!

Reaching out to see if anyone has winter camping recommendations in the western half of the state (or West Virginia), not necessarily PA wilds but that would work. Specifically looking for trails with three or four sided cabins with a fireplace or caves/rock outcrops that can be camped in. I’ve been winter camping on the LHHT every year for most of the last decade and love that the shelters have the fireplace in them rather than a fire pit out front. Interested to know if anyone has found anything similar.