🌲 Welcome to the Lumber Heritage Region GeoTour 🪵

Full of history and natural beauty, Pennsylvania’s Lumber Heritage Region spans 4.2 million acres across 15 counties. From sweeping forests and rolling hills to vibrant communities shaped by the lumber industry, come explore what makes North-Central Pennsylvania so special! This officially registered GeoTour highlights our favorite locations, from parks and forests to museums and monuments. Find 20 of the 23 caches to earn a limited-edition GeoTour coin, or find all 23 to unlock a unique souvenir added to your Geocaching profile.

For information regarding the GeoTour and a full list of caches, please visit our website.

LHR-GT #09: Pine Creek Rail Trail

The Pine Creek Rail Trail is one of the Northeast’s premier rail-trails, offering a scenic 62-mile ride through Pine Creek Gorge, often called the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon. The well-maintained crushed-limestone trail features numerous trailheads, campgrounds, comfort stations, and small towns along the route, making it suitable for both short rides and multi-day trips. The corridor began as the Jersey Shore, Pine Creek, and Buffalo Railroad, built in 1883 to haul timber to local sawmills and transport coal north to New York, with its last freight train running in October 1988. Remnants of its past, including stone mile markers and interpretive panels at trailheads such as Darling Run and Tiadaghton, highlight the region’s logging and railroad heritage, while nearby, the Tioga Central Railroad still offers seasonal train excursions north from Wellsboro Junction toward Lake Hammond and the outskirts of Corning, New York. Click here to learn more

TO FIND THIS CACHE, your adventure starts at the trail intersection for the Charleston Street Connector Bridge. It is highly recommended to start at the parking waypoint included below and enjoy the short walk to the trailhead for the first stage. Here, you should see a variety of different signage, which will help you solve for the final coordinates.

Solve for N 41° 45.ABA′ W 77° 17.CBA′, where

A = The second digit in the year the Charleston Street Bridge connected to the Pine Creek Rail Trail. (2A24)

B = The last digit found under the N.C.R.W. initials on the top beam of the Charleston Street Bridge. (187B)

C = According to the nearby "Women's Role in the Lumber Camps" sign, what time did women who worked at these camps typically wake up before? (C am)

Next, navigate to the solved coordinates, which will bring you near the side entrance of a beautiful building that houses a lot of artifacts from the Pine Creek Railroad. Look for the "RAILROAD CROSSING" sign mounted on the wall above a desk, next to an old furnace. In the bottom drawer, you will find the cache. Please replace everything back exactly as you found it.

This cache is only accessible during normal hours of operation.

Monday - Friday - 8 AM to 4 PM
Saturday - Sunday - Closed

This project was financed in part by a grant from the Community Conservation Partnerships Program, the Heritage Areas Program, under the administration of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Recreation and Conservation.