Old Logger's Path

06/21/07

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Description: The Old Logger's Path is quickly  becoming one of the most popular backpacking venues in the Keystone State. This 28.8 mile long (Some references, including the State Forest map, has the distance at 27.3 miles.) Is composed mostly of old logging railroad grades and haul roads interconnected by strategically placed foot trails. It's official start and end is at the old ghost town of Masten. If you use that as a location you can use any of the on-line mapware programs to get you there. The highlights of the loop are the many vistas, Pleasant Stream, Yellow Dog Run and, most of all, Rock Run and the gorge it has carved through the rocks through the millenniums. There are campsites at most stream crossings but the best are along Pleasant Run and at the confluence of Yellow Dog Run and Rock Run. If you don't have the time to do the entire thing or just want something shorter use the old railroad grade that connects the east and west sections as a cross-connector. The northern loop is about 21 miles long. The southern loop is about 13 miles in length. Note: This connector can become overgrown in the summer and difficult to follow.

Google Custom Directions

Note: The trailhead is at the large brown and white  sign at the site of the old logging town.

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Printable Downloadable Map

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View 3-D Map

Zipped National Geographic. TOPO! GPS and Universal GPX Files

GPS Text File for Non-TOPO! Users

 

 

Trail Notes: The entire trail is blazed orange with arrows noting change of directions. Watch out for these as the route constantly jumps from one grade to another and it's easy to walk by a footpath with obvious blazes if you are , shall we say, engaged in conversation or perhaps letting your mind wonder. It's easy to do here. Believe me. From the trailhead proceed east on Pleasant Stream Road. Cross the stream on a bridge. In 0.64 miles from the beginning turn right off of the road onto a footpath. Climb steeply for a short distance to the first of many railroad grades. Turn left onto the grade, traveling east still. In about 0.5 miles you'll turn right and climb to yet another grade. Turn right again, traveling west. The grade will slowly climb and curve around the mountain in a more south-easterly direction. Descend and cross an old woods road at 3.13 miles from first joining the grades at Pleasant Stream Road.

In another 0.14 miles cross a gravel road, jogging to the left a bit and proceeding down a driveway. Almost immediately the trail leaves the driveway to the right. Watch for the blazes. In 0.58 miles descend to the spur trail on the left for the Sproul Point vista.  After checking out the views continue your descent crossing gravel Cascade Road in 0.92 miles after the vista.

In another 1.28 miles the trail will cross a stream and bear left onto another railroad grade. There is a nice campsite here. Shortly after turning onto this grade turn right onto a footpath and begin a steady, long climb. In 0.8 miles reach another grade. Turn left onto it and follow it out to John Merrell Road and Sharp Point Vista. After taking in the views here proceed west on the road leaving it to the left in about 0.33 miles. Descend on a narrow piece of sidehill trail. The footing is tricky here and the slope to your left is very steep. In 0.27 miles cross the road and pick up another railroad grade. In 1.61 miles arrive at Pleasant Stream. There is a nice campsite before the ford and more on the other side. This is a good place to call it night.

After successfully crossing the stream find a campsite to the right. There is also a spur trail which I think leads to more sites. In a short distance climb up to another railroad grade. Going right will take you back to your car. Turn left here if completing the entire circuit. In 0.94 miles turn right off of the grade and arrive at Pleasant Stream Road. Turn left on the road, cross Long Run on a bridge and immediately turn right onto the continuation of the trail.

Here the trail picks up another grade and follows it up Long Run. The trail will leave the grade, as you descend to the run and climb up to the other side to another grade. The trail is blazed in both directions for some reason. Turn left here continuing upstream. In 1.18 miles from Pleasant Stream Road the grade meets the run. There is a small campsite here on and island. Cross the stream and turn downstream for just a few steps towards the camp to pick up the continuation of the trail on the other side. The trail continues upstream from here and soon comes to a large fern clearing. Turn left onto a footpath and climb steeply for 0.73 miles to the first of many vistas on Sullivan Mountain. This one isn't obvious. You have to slide between some mountain laurel to get to it. In another 0.61 miles there is an even grander vista and yet another in another 0.77 miles. In between there are other "partial" views. In 1.2 miles from the last vista turn right onto gravel Ellenton Road. Follow it for 0.33 miles and turn left onto another trail.

Follow a railroad grade for 1.61 miles to a nice campsite on Doe Run. Shortly after passing the camp the trail crosses the run and follows its northern bank westward for a while before turning northeast again. In 1.07 miles from Doe Run come to a blue blazed spur trail on the left. Follow it for a tremendous view of the Rock Run Drainage. Continue on the Old Logger Path. In 0.36 miles cross a gas line swath.. After this crossing the trail descends for 0.58 miles to yellow Dog Road. Bear right onto the road and follow it for 0.22 miles. Turn left onto a footpath that runs into another grade. Follow it for 1.48 miles to the confluence of Yellow Dog Run and Rock Run. There is a large campsite here but even more places for tents on the other side of Yellow Run. This has got to be one of the best places to camp in all of PA. Enjoy the falls, chutes, swimming holes and water-sculpted rocks.

The initial part of the grade appears to be constantly wet from a seep coming down from the hill. This only lasts for about 30 yards. Rock Run is very scenic but the trail leaves the streamside grade way too early. You might want to bushwhack further up the stream to visit some of what few have take the time to see. Climb steeply up a footpath to join another grade that is higher up the mountain. Eventually the trail will assume a very slight upward pitch but the climb up to it can be a bit challenging. In 4.25 miles from camp the trail will come out to what appears to be a frequently used logging road. Turn right onto it. In 0.15 miles turn left onto a footpath. Follow this a short distance to once again join Ellenton Road. Turn left here but when the road splits turn right onto another road. This is part of blue blazed Cherry Ridge Trail and is signed as such. Follow the road for 0.45 miles and turn left onto a footpath that quickly joins another railroad grade.  In 1.21 miles arrive at a nice but dry campsite. Shortly after this the trail crosses a seasonal stream and in 0.43 miles arrives at Pleasant Stream Road once again. Turn left here and in a few yards arrive back at your car.

Printable/Downloadable Trail Notes

Critique This Outing

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Name: Steve (hikingff77)                                                                                           Hike: Old Loggers Path
Date: 12/05-12/06/09                                                                                               Rating: 5

Critique: We started out at the SGL gate just north of Masten on Ellentown Road and hiking counterclockwise on the OLP. Very beautiful area with lots of water in the creeks and streams. For the most part I felt as though we were hiking downhill on a nice grade. The trail was wide for the most part and it did have plenty of boggy and muddy sections. Saw a few hunters and there was another group backpacking, never saw them on the trail, just at the TH. Lots of downed trees in the woods and some blowdowns across the trail. Nothing we couldn't navigate.

Got cold, 15* at one point in the night. Thank god for down.

We hiked out to the Jeep road and then took that to the Ellentown Road and road walked it back to the car. The road walking sucked but it was snow covered and the only way we could make a loop out of it for the short time we had.

All in all an awesome place. We'll def. go back in the summer to play in the creeks.

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Name: paknees                                                                                                             Hike: Old Loggers Path
Date: 5.4.08-5.7.08                                                                                                      Rating: 5

Critique: I loved this hike! first week of may was a great time to go, although there tons of bugs flying around. Went clockwise from Masten, and spent the first night at the Pleasant Run campsite. Day two was great and we spent the night at Rock Run where I took a dip in the cool water and than thawed out on a rock in the middle of the stream. I must say I had two of the most peaceful nights ever in the wilderness at both these sites. Must of been the sound of the water. Sounds like this place dries up in the summer but late spring there was water everywhere. day three was pretty sweet. We trail ran the final 6.5 miles or so and than splashed around in Pleasant Stream before heading back to Leheigh valley. Perfect hike!

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Name: MDRaven                                                                                                            Hike: Old Logger's Path
Date: 06-13 to 15-2008                                                                                               Rating: 4.5

Critique: We tackled this loop going clockwise from Masten. I'm convinced it may be a little easier to do this counterclockwise, but I'm still glad we did it the way we did, using Pleasant Stream as the first night campsite and Rock Run as the second. The scenery exceeded my expectations. The vistas were outstanding, accompanied by the blooming mountain laurel. Rock Run was spectacular. I could see where later in the summer this trail could get very dry. Other than Rock Run and Pleasant Stream, there wasn't much water flow. I thought the trail was very well-marked and easy to follow. The Trail Notes posted on this site were excellent. We saw a very large Scout group on the trail, but few others, even at Rock Run on Saturday night. Overall, I was impressed with The Logs and will consider doing it again someday.

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Name: Bob                                                                                                                     Hike: Old Logger's Path
Date: 9/14 - 9/17/07                                                                                                 Rating: 4

Critique: We hiked this trail east out of Masten and did the southern section first, as the trail guide is written.  (If you go the other way, there is a pretty large campsite within the first 200 yards of the trail.)  The first scenic overlook is a short detour, but worth the side trip and a good place for a break.  We hiked a little over 8 miles on day 1 and found only a dry/stagnate creek bed.  Day 2 started with a short hike to Pleasant Stream for water.  The campsite here is really nice.  We hiked about 10 more miles without finding any more water.  The views from the mountain were great, and deer in the area were comfortable with us around.  Day 3 started with about 1.5 miles to the Yellow Run swimming hole.  This was beautiful, but it was about 45 degrees outside, and too cold to swim.

General thoughts:  Arrive with plenty of water and be prepared to carry a day's worth, plus cooking.  Water was only available in two places, and they're about day's hike apart.  We crossed what appeared to be several dry creek beds, so maybe it was just unusually dry.  The trail is very well marked, but there a few railroad grades where the trail quickly heads back into the woods.  Pay attention.  I know we missed one, and another hiker got caught doing a loop - twice, because he missed a turn marker.  The campsites are nice and pretty well spaced.  Some are quite large, others are for one tent only.  Wear long pants, as much of the trail has high grass and other scratch-inducing foliage.  All in all, this is a great hike with frequent terrain changes and enough scenery changes that it never gets boring.  I can see why this trail is recommended for a beginner backpacker, but also why experienced backpackers return to it.

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Name: Kyle Henson                                                                                                   Hike: Old Loggers Path - North Section
Date: 7/25-7/26
                                                                                                        Rating: 3

Critique: We were planning on hiking the Northern section 21 miles over three days.  We did it in 2.  We started at the trailhead and hiked north.  The first day was 8 miles, 1.5 of which were wrong turns that took us back to our car ha-ha.  Hiking north the trail was pretty boring I thought. We saw one chunky timber rattler soaking up the afternoon sun on the trail and I almost stepped on it.  There was zero water until camp both days on this hike.  The swimming hole at Yellow Dog Run and Rock Run was absolutely gorgeous and COLD! Too cold for extended swims, but refreshing nonetheless.  That was our only water until we reached Pleasant Stream, which was very low also.  We had dinner there at about 5:30 and decided to move on and finish the hike.  Our plan was to hike across the middle following the supposedly blue-blazed railroad grade along Pleasant Stream.  We decided to start at 6:30 with hopes of doing a little night hiking.  We searched until 8:30 for a blue-blazed trail, bushwhacking through the woods about 2 miles.  We searched and searched and searched for a clean trail or any hint of one along that railroad grade but each time we ended up bushwhacking back to Pleasant Stream Rd.  We eventually found one blue blaze so we knew we were on the right path...but there was no way one could hike through that at night.  It would have been a lot of bushwhacking.  We ended up hiking back to the car along Pleasant Stream Rd, drove to Williamsport and stayed at Econolodge for night 2.  It was a nice hike, but not one of my favorites.  The highlight was definitely Yellow Run campsite.  I will do it again but will do the entire loop and hope for better views and better water. I do not recommend hiking the phantom blue-blaze trail through the middle.  Thanks MRHyker for the great maps and description.  A good hike for beginners.

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Name: T Mainzer                                                                                                        Hike: Old Loggers Path
Date: 05/12-15/2007                                                                                               Rating: 4

Critique: I hiked this trail solo, leaving WEST from Masten.  These Trail Notes are thorough and accurate; and the included map is better than that available from Pennsylvania DCNR.  This hike is a great first backpack in late April through May, and September.  Summers in central PA are usually HAZY/HOT/HUMID, and you'll want to wear long pants to avoid NETTLES in open areas through considerable parts of this hike after early June.  Thoroughly enjoyable!

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