15 June 2026 - Pine Creek Rail Trail
Today we explored several miles of Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon on our foldable bicycles.
When asked, my mom would always say the canyon is "a 1000 feet deep and 50 miles long". It's actually 450 feet deeper and about 3 miles short of her numbers, but it's how I remember it!
Yesterday, we walked around the most recent addition to the Rail Trail in Wellsboro itself. The last 3 miles of the trail were recently completed here at the old railroad station in town to establish the "Patterson Trailhead".
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| Wellsboro Rail Station |
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| Signpost of Places to visit in Pennsylvania |
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| Cute Children's Park at Trailhead |
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| Start of Trail |
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| Looking down the trail |
Located near the trailhead is a, Warren Pony Truss, historic bridge. This bridge is an early example of a Warren Pony Truss bridge and used as an example for construction of future bridges.
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| Construction Details |
Built in 1879 and originally on a rail line terminating in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, the Howellville Truss bridge was moved twice! Due to faster trains and heavier cars, the bridge was moved in 1904 to become part of a line bypassing Philadelphia. Then, in 2021, when the bride was found to be too narrow for continued use here, it was once again moved to Tioga County to connect the Marsh Creek Greenway to Charleston Street in Wellsboro.
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| Bridge History |
Moving and repairing the bridge was no easy task.
It is now a very beautiful work of art and craftmanship that is still in use!
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| Howellville Truss Bridge |
Viewing the trailhead whet our appetite for our planned ride on the trail. We heard from friends at my Lycoming College Reunion that we should start our trail ride at the Darling Run access point instead of in town to ride through the canyon instead of through fields. Given that, we did a bit of research, i.e. I posted a question on Facebook and got a reply back from a high-school classmate. We needed to know if we could bike one direction and get a ride back to where we started or would be have to bike roundtrip. My classmate, Bob Burns, pointed us to Pine Creek Outfitters as a business that provides rentals and transportation to and from the rail trail and Pine Creek for bicyclists, kayakers, and rafting.
Clark call Pine Creek Outfitters before we left the hotel this morning, determined that they could help us return to our car after our bike ride, and suggested 10:00 as a good for our start time in Ansonia and their 2:00 pickup in Blackwell, Pennsylvania.
We left the hotel in plenty of time to take a trip up to the Colton Point Lookout over the canyon before the start of our ride.
When I was child, the Colton Point lookout was rustic and undeveloped as compared to Leonard Harrison State Park. Now, at least, Colton Point has a guard rail! Regardless of which one is visited, the view is magnificent!
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| Pennsylvania Mountains |
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| Looking down on Pine Creek from the Colton Point Lookout |
Besides viewing Pine Creek, we could see snippets of the trail we would be biking later this morning.
The trip up and down, to and from the lookout, was narrow and twisting on a tree-lined road. Sadly, the road has a 25 mph speed limit due to the danger of unseen, on-coming traffic and / or wildlife crossing the road. I would have been tempted to "fly" down this road! We did find a couple of vehicles going up as we went down, so Clark was right to adhere to the speed limit.
Pine Creek Outfitters was a great lead!
These folks could not have been more friendly or accommodating if they had tried. We arrived at their location at 9:30 with plenty of time to complete paperwork and pay for our pickup. They provided a map and gave us directions for the start of our ride.
Our path for the day was predetermined. Pine Creek Outfitters is located near the Ansonia rail trail access point. They pickup at Blackwell at 2:00 or 5:00. They do not pickup at the intermediate, Tiadaghton location. With the start time of 10:00, that gave us 4 hours to get to Blackwell. The distance was close to 20 miles. Doing the math and allowing time to stop to take pictures, Clark thought an average of 5 mph sounded reasonable to arrive at the 2:00 time. I was taking his word for it!
Before starting our rail-trail ride, we biked down a spot on Pine Creek, behind the Outfitters location, where kayaks can be launched to take a peak at the creek itself.
We picked a perfect day for our ride. Temps were in the 60s with a breeze. We dressed in layers. My ears get cold, so I wore a bandana under my helmet.
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| On trail to kayak launch point on the creek |
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| View along the way to the creek |
Seeing Pine Creek up close reminded me of my childhood when my parents would bring us to the creek with car / truck inner tubes to float. Now those are fond memories indeed!
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| Pine Creek! |
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| Sign for kayakers so they know when to stop! |
When we found the pathway to access the rail trail, I was not favorably impressed with the terrain. We do not have "normal" bikes. Ours are collapsible with 16" wheels about 1-1/4" tire width. They are not meant for "all terrain".
The orange-trimmed sign at the entrance confirmed that this was the correct path!
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| Yeh! Right! |
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| No wobbling allowed on this bridge! |
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| View from the narrow bridge |
All told, the rural access path to the start of the rail trail probably added a mile or two to today's travel. After exiting the grassy path, we had to ride along the highway and crossover the road by the Ansonia Inn to finally arrive at the Ansonia rail trail access point. When we finally got there, we only had 18 or so more miles to go!
On the highway, we passed by a e-bike rental business with several sheds - each one named for one of the stops on the rail trail.
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| Ansonia, Darling Run, Tiadaghton, Blackwell |
Our ride along the highway took us past the "Burnin' Barrel" inn.
I do not remember any details of going there, but my parents frequently talked about the "Ansonia Inn" at the same location.
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| "Ansonia Valley Inn" |
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| Tioga State Forest / Pine Creek Gorge - that-a-way! |
It seemed like everything we passed brought back memories - even road signs like the one below that said "Marsh Creek". We knew some folks that lived in that area. Upon seeing the sign, I thought "Rattlesnakes live in the Marsh Creek area!" In Wellsboro, where our house was located, we only had grass snakes!
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| To me ... Marsh Creek = Rattlesnakes |
We were told to cross the road at the white church.
Traffic was light thankfully, so crossing the road did not present much of a problem and road signs indicated we were heading the right direction.
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| Entry to the rail trail |
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| Ev just exited bridge to ground gravel trail |
I thought I remembered the trail as being paved, i.e. macadam; it is not. It is finely ground gravel. Our bikes gave us no trouble with the surface area, but we had to work a little harder than had it been paved. Also, we had a wind / rain storm the night before our ride and the trail was littered with bits of broken tree limbs meaning we were swerving quite a bit of the time to avoid "tripping" hazards.
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| on the gravelly trail finally! |
When we reached Darling Run, ostensibly the beginning of our trail hike, we had already traveled about 3 miles. Only 16 or so more miles to go!
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| Ev resting while Clark takes a picture |
Restrooms on the trail were nicely camouflaged out houses, i.e. a hole in the ground with a toilet on top.
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| Pretty outhouse |
I found the views of the terrain along the trail interesting.
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| Rough, overgrown terrain off trail |
When we were at the Pine Creek Outfitters, a group of folks were there to rent floatation devices, e.g. kayaks, to go down the river. PCO recommended against it as the water was very low and only expected to get worse later in the week.
On our bikes, we caught glimpses of the river showing the water pounding over the rocks. I could see where it would yield plenty of snags and bumps in a kayak.
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| Rapids on Pine Creek |
On the sides of the trails we saw many broken tree limbs, downed trees, and plenty of rocks.
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| Mini waterfall in the rocks by the trail |
Clark was also busy with his phone camera.
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| Road signs ... Horse on the right Others on the left |
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| We stayed to the left! |
I thought that folks could rent horses for trail rides. I later found out that to go by horse meant to ride in a wagon. I am pretty sure I would prefer to be riding the horse!
Along through here we saw a couple of houses built practically in the water. All I could think about was mosquitoes! They could almost fish off their porches.
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| Nice idea but not for me! |
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| More "rapids" |
One place we saw had a rope bridge from the cabin to the trail. Both ends were blocked off so no non-owners could trespass.
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| Cabin with its own bridge to the trail |
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| Looks a bit scary to me! |
Our bike ride took us past the entrance to the "Turkey Path". This path is a rigorous trail from the top of the canyon at Leonard Harrison State Park to the creek's edge / bike trail. Clark and I have both hikes this trail multiple times but only once with each other.
The trail is steep and curvy with occasional areas where water runs over the pathway making it somewhat treacherous (depending on time of year, etc.) I remember hiking it as a teen with my mother and sister and giving them a helping hand a few times to get over some rough spots.
Clark has his own memory of hiking this trail. Our wedding, in June of 1980, was set for 4:00 in the afternoon. Clark decided that he did not want to sit around in a hotel room all day waiting for the big event getting nervous. He convinced his best man, John, that they should go visit Leonard Harrison State Park.
When they got there, Clark said he was going to check out, i.e. hike, the Turkey Path. Since he felt it was his job to get Clark to the wedding on time and still in one piece, John took one look at the trail and was immediately not a fan of this idea. I was not there but I imagine Clark saying that he was going and that John could either come along or wait. Once Clark gets a plan in his head, there's no getting stopping him!
I was somewhat surprised that Clark passed by the Turkey Path with barely a glance. Then I remembered we were on a time schedule to meet the van. Regardless, I don't think my legs would have held out for a hike to the falls along with the 20-mile bike ride.
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| Turkey Path ahead to the left |
We saw multiple warning signs regarding the types of snakes we might encounter including rattlesnakes.
The trail was surprisingly devoid of much life either people or animals. We did come across one deer that stopped to stare at us for a while before diving into the woods.
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| Deer checking us out |
As we peddled along, I was grateful for the weather. I enjoyed the cool air and breeze as I worked hard to keep going at a pace to reach our destination in time for pickup by the van. Had the temps been in the 80s or 90s, I could not have made this trip.
Looking at the rocky terrain, one wonders how they managed to lay the railroad tracks through here in the 1800s.
I have not visited my home town in a very long time. I forgot how really pretty it is here!
Upon reaching Tiadaghton (tie-a-daw-ton), we had covered 11 of our 20-mile ride. Turning around was further than going forward, so onward we traveled to meet our ride back to our car! We arrived here around noon and found it a good place to stop for lunch with picnic tables next to the creek.
Clark was (I kid you not) excited to see Smokey the Bear! He said, "It's been a long time since I saw him!"
Signage gave us some history of the area.
As described in the poster below, the town of Tiadaghton no longer exists. The business of building the railroad on one side of the creek and the lumber industry cutting timber on the other side gave this town life. When both of those work opportunities went away, the town eventually disappeared into non-existence as well.
We carried our lunch and potable water with us. Plenty of water surrounded us, but signs we saw indicated that drinking it would be at our own risk.
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| "WARNING Water Not Tested" |
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| Our view from the picnic table |
After lunch, as we prepared to leave, we encountered another couple just leaving the area from their lunch break. There were three of them - a man, a woman, and a dog traveling together. They had e-bikes with a trailer for the dog. We chatted with them for while. Clark commented that the people we found along the way all seemed to be at the access points and not on the trail itself.
Shortly after getting under way from our lunch break, we passed a hunting cabin along the trail ...
complete with its own cannon and cannon balls.
Closer to Blackwell, we encountered the results of an Eagle Scout project. What an amazing undertaking!
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| Steps at beginning of a trail (provided by an Eagle Scout project) |
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| Road sign at bottom of steps |
Along the trail we saw a sign that indicated Blackwell was 4.5 miles ahead. I saw it, and it registered. However, as I was "running out of steam", I somehow got it into my head that we only had 2 more miles to go. Imagine my disappointment when I saw a sign 2.5 miles later that said, "Blackwell - 2 miles"!
Adding to my desire to reach the end of the trail was the muscle strain I was feeling in my left thigh. Every turn of the pedal made my thigh cry out for relief! With no other option, I had to press on. Thankfully the trail has only a 2% grade - so mostly flat. I found that I could pedal a bit, coast, pedal a bit, coast, ... to give my thigh a break. I was very happy to see the "Welcome to Blackwell" sign!
We knew we would meet the van here at 2:00. We arrived at 1:40. Having not been here before by bicycle, we wondered where we would find the van. As we came to a crossroads, I told Clark to go up the hill to the left so we could check out the church.
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| Blackwell Community Church Founded 1892 |
The van driver told us that we would find ice cream in Blackwell, and we found the shop down the hill from the church.
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| Miller's Store "Water, Food, and Art" |
When we arrived at Miller's Store for ice cream, we found the folks on the e-bikes from Tiadaghton sitting there enjoying ice cream with their dog. It appeared that even though they had e-bikes, they arrived not too long before we did!
As we finished our ice creams, the van driver appeared at the shop. Timing was good, he had just arrived to get an ice cream of his own. He pointed us in the direction of the van where he would meet us for the ride back to our car in Ansonia.
Getting into the van presented its own problem. The step up from the ground was close to two-foot up. Had my left leg been fully operational, I might have been able to get up there. As it was, I could not put enough weight on it to propel myself upwards. Fortunately, he had a step stool so I made it in!
The ride back to our car was much longer than I expected. As we passed through Wellsboro, he gave us a bit of a tourist's guide to sites and restaurants.
When we finally got back to our motel, it was around 5:00. By reading local literature, Clark discovered that a concert would be playing at a park in town with a couple playing guitar and singing. We planned to attend. It started at 7:00. Since we did not quite know where it would be held, we went to check out the venue beforehand.
We found the place where the band was setting up beside "Celia's Music Park".
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| Celia's Music Park Wellsboro, PA |
Of course Clark had to play with the instruments. He tested each one!
We saw them setting up for the concert here on the green grass in front of the brick building.
Having checked out the concert site, we continued walking to the edge of town for more exploring.
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| On Main Street |
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| "Tioga" - meaning "From the Forks of a Stream" |
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| The "Green Free Library" it's been here "forever" i.e. since 1917 |
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| Older home on the Main Street |
Once upon a time Clark went into the "West End Market", and he wanted to check it out once more. I, on the other hand, had never been in this store. It no longer sells bread and milk like my father would buy here on his way home from work. It now is an "artisan" store. I bought some scones. Unfortunately, they were not to my taste.
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| West End Market Since 1902 |
The outside looks the same including the same door openers that were here when I was a child.
Our walk back to the other end of town took us once more past "The Green" and we stopped in for a better picture of the fountain with the sun shining on Wynken, Blyken, and Nod.
We checked out the restaurants pointed out to us by our van driver and decided to check out "The Steak House" for dinner. This restaurant has been in business for many years with the third generation now the owners. Our server, Carolyn, was very nice, efficient, and rushed off her feet.
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| Steak House |
We were too full after dinner to order dessert, but Clark really wanted a slice of the Strawberry Rhubarb pie on their menu. Carolyn said she would set a slice aside for us to come back later after the concert in town.
As we exited the restaurant, I got a surprise. A parade had just started! Every year Wellsboro holds their annual Laurel Festival. The weekend we were visiting happened to be the festival weekend. I was lucky to get a hotel room anywhere in town.
From Google search ... "Organized [in 1938] by the Wellsboro Lions Club, the first festival was held to promote not only the Grand Canyon, but also the state flower, Mountain Laurel. Events included a parade, a circus, block dance and a ball. The festival highlight was the crowning of the first Laurel Queen, Miss Phyllis Viola of McKees Rocks."
The big parade, with the crowning of the festival queen, occurred on Saturday - the day before we arrived in town. The kids' / pet parade was supposed to be Sunday night, but with thunderstorms threatened, the pet parade was postponed until tonight. Clark knew all about it; however, I was clueless and found it a total surprise to stumble across!
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| Start of the parade |
The girl in the rainbow skirt below is a unicorn. The head with horn is attached to the front of the bike. The mane is part of her helmet.
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| Kids on decorated bikes |
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| Scottie - Pet matching owner's attire |
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| Here they come around the corner from Queen Street onto Main Street |
The pet pig in the carrier with the turquoise cover won a prize at the parade.
Clark captured the below pictures of the Festival Queens.
The dogs shown below were labeled Mustard and Ketchup.
"House of Sterling" performed a blend of folk and country music. We arrived before the crown with blanket in hand and grabbed the last available park bench to listen to the show. As the night proceeded, we ended up wrapping the blanket around us instead of sitting on it as it was a very chilly night for June.
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| "House of Sterling" |
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| Singer-songwriters Joe Callahan and Molly Cary |
We left shortly before the show ended to go back to the Steak House for our slice of pie. When we entered the restaurant, I told the hostess that Carolyn was saving pie for us, so she seated us in Carolyn's area once more. The pie was worth the trip back!!
We packed a lot into this day with plans to leave in the morning to head into upstate New York for a small family gathering / reunion. Besides meeting with family, we planned more adventures including an outing to Watkins Glen State Park that will be my next blog update!
