Laurel Highlands Trail, PA
By Mary Reed
Laurel Highlands Trail, PA photo gallery
The Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail is Pennsylvania’s mini version of the Appalachian Trail – a 70-mile shelter-to-shelter footpath from Ohiopyle to the Conemaugh Gorge near Johnstown, allowing you to get your long-distance jones on.
“What’s not to like? You’ve got a beautiful, well-marked trail with mile markers. You’ve got Adirondack shelters with chimneys. You’ve got fresh-cut firewood. You’ve got pit toilets. You’ve got water pumps,” says Tony Delserone, a local hiker and life member of the Keystone Trails Association, “For feeling like you’re way back in the woods, it’s pretty luxurious accommodations.”
It’s truly a four-season trail, with a display of wildflowers in the spring, thickets of the namesake mountain laurel in summer, cooler temps and brilliant leaf colors in the fall, and relatively cushy winter backpacking with the firewood-stocked shelters.
For a thru-hike, try walking north to south for overall elevation loss (you’ll be glad you did between the Route 653 Shelter Area and the Ohiopyle Shelter Area). For a day hike, just begin from either trailhead or try the Forbes State Forest area where the Laurel Highlands Trail meets the Roaring Run Trail.
Shelters are three-sided, so bring your mosquito net and be sure to bring cordage and bags to bear-proof your food stash. If you’re lucky, you’ll spot a black bear, but plan to see white-tailed deer and to hear deep forest birds such as wood thrushes, rufous-sided towhees and black-throated green warblers.
Sights include rocky overlooks that give you a view of paddlers on the Yough (Youghiogheny River). In summer, bring your bathing suit for jumping into the creeks and lakes along the way.
Where it’s at: About an hour and a half from Pittsburgh; from the junction of I-70 and I-76, take US 119 south 14 miles to PA 711 south about nine miles where you merge with PA 381 and continue about 10 miles into Ohiopyle. Take a left at King Road for the trailhead.
Contact: Laurel Ridge State Park, www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/laurelridge.aspx or (724) 455-3744. You can park your vehicle for up to 12 days in a special long-term lot at Ohiopyle State park, www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/ohiopyle.aspx or (724) 329-8591
Digs: Shelters can be reserved up to 11 months in advance ($4/night for Pennsylvania residents and $5/night for non-residents), visitpaparks.com or (724) 455-3744. You can skip roughing it one night by hiking to Seven Springs Resort, 7springs.com or 800-452-2223.
Grub: Falls City Pub in Ohiopyle, www.fallscitypub.com or (724) 329-3000
Gear and Outfitting: Wilderness Voyageurs in Ohiopyle, wilderness-voyageurs.com or 800-272-4141
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memories
I have hiked various sections of the LHT over the years in summer and winter. In the late summer of 1976 I hiked the entire trail south to north, solo. It was a great trip. Years later my wife and I were hiking a section north of Rt 30 where we saw our first black bear in the wild, the largest black bear I have ever seen. It had to have been as big as a VW Beetle, knocking down trees inches thick as it moved.
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