Trail treats Traditional Cache
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Located at the northern end of the Pine Creek Rail Trail, this is a good spot to start or end your trail experience!
Known locally as the "Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania," Pine Creek Gorge can make you feel rather small and sheltered. Glacial ice sheets drained through the gorge thousands of years ago and accelerated its carving. The deeper you venture in, the steeper the slopes grow, and 100-year-old hardwood forests shadow the mountainsides. Looking up from the valley floor, 1,000 feet down along Pine Creek, you may get the feeling you're in the maw of a woodsy beast.
Despite this résumé for a rugged adventure, Pine Creek Gorge is actually incredibly welcoming and accessible, thanks to the 64-mile Pine Creek Rail Trail. On smooth crushed stone, the trail runs from Jersey Shore to Wellsboro Junction and lets visitors comfortably tour the gorge's imposing terrain. You get all the sights with few of the strains.
The route's roots are in the timber industry. The Jersey Shore, Pine Creek and Buffalo Railway first built tracks in 1893 to service local sawmills, but the Fall Brook Coal Company soon purchased the line to haul coal to New York. Ownership and use of the corridor shifted several more times before ending with Conrail, and the last freight train passed through in 1988.
Within a year, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) and other partners were lobbying the Pennsylvania legislature to acquire the route for trail development. The value of such a trail was not always clear to local communities, and it took three votes for the measure to pass—with a purchase of $1 from Conrail. "There was some controversy," says Tom Sexton, director of RTC's Northeast Regional Office. "Some people thought the trail was going to stop people from enjoying the wilderness; others thought it was going to bring a bunch of unwanted development. Neither has happened."
Opened in 1996, the Pine Creek Rail Trail now ambles creekside for all but seven miles of the route and passes through two state forests—the Tioga to the north, and the Tiadahton to the south. A citizen advisory committee continues to oversee development around the pathway. They've helped keep commercial intrusions to a minimum, although you'll find enough services to keep you comfortable. "There's a happy medium," says Sexton.
Cache is located near the northern end of this 64 mile trail.
Owner is aware of, and approves, placement of cache. Watch for muggles and replace carefully. Log only, BYOP.
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Treasures
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