There is a Laurel Hill, a Laurel Mountain, a Laurel Ridge, and a
Laurel Summit State Park in the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania.
It’s very easy to get them confused so you may want rely on your
GPS to be sure that you get to the right park. This cache is hidden
in Laurel Ridge State Park in the vicinity of the park
headquarters. The main attraction of this park is the Laurel
Highlands Hiking Trail, a 70-mile hiking and backpacking trail
which runs the length of Laurel Hill from the Youghiogheny River in
Ohiopyle to the Conemaugh River at Seward. This cache is located
close to a viewpoint at mile 21.3 of the trail. This suggests that
you could get to the cache by hiking 21 miles from Ohiopyle or 49
miles from Seward. If you prefer a shorter hike, I would like to
recommend that you can begin from a parking area located on route
653 about 8 miles east of Normalville, Pennsylvania. You will want
to follow a blue-blazed connector trail from this parking area for
a short distance to the LHHT where you will turn left and follow
the yellow blazes of the main trail for about 2.5 miles to the
cache. There are no big hills on this section of the trail. It is a
pleasant walk in the woods. It is also possible to drive closer to
the cache on a rough road which runs parallel to the LHHT but this
route is only recommended for the very lazy who prefer vehicle
abuse to a good hike. You might also like to check out the park
headquarters and/or shelter area while you are here. Cache on!
Note: Rumor has it that you can see the top of the USX Tower in
downtown Pittsburgh from the viewpoint on a clear day. Use the
waypoint below to locate it.
Waypoints and Bonus Virtual Caches
39° 57.280', -79° 22.098' Trailhead (Mile 18.8)
39° 57.331', -79° 21.962' Trail Junction (Mile 18.8)
39° 57.401', -79° 21.989' Route 653 (Mile 18.9)
39° 57.421', -79° 21.806' Park Headquarters (Mile 18.9)
39° 57.405', -79° 21.983' Pioneer Cemetery (Mile 18.9)
39° 57.499', -79° 21.945' Milepost (Mile 19.0)
39° 58.176', -79° 21.623' Milepost (Mile 20.0)
39° 58.452', -79° 21.491' Air Navigation Transmitter (Mile
20.3)
39° 58.784', -79° 20.992' Milepost (Mile 21.0)
39° 58.945', -79° 21.118' Viewpoint #1 (Mile 21.3)
39° 58.959', -79° 21.108' Viewpoint #2 (Mile 21.3)
40° 26.395', -79° 59.720' USX Tower
Other Geocaches on the LHHT
Mile 13.6 Twin
Lakes (GC1022H)
Mile 22.8 Paths
of the Dead (Boots) (GCMWGM)
Mile 33.3 Cabin
Place (GC318E)
Mile 35.0 Mile 35
Geocache (GC2F0A)
Mile 35.6 Spooky
Tunnel (GC6FFD)
Mile 37.3 Panties
in the Woods (GCPARY)
Mile 41.0 Beam
Rocks Cache 2 (GCP8F6)
Mile 41.8 Wilderness
Cache (GCA1BB)
Mile 56.1 Laurel
Ridge Rock Hallways (GCH6FP)
Mile 56.2 Fort
Rocky Road (GCJ996)
Mile 69.0 Trailhead
Cache (GC55C1)
This cache is in Laurel Ridge State Park. Permit expires:
06/11/08
