A Couple Of Snowy Hikes On The Greater Hazleton Rails To Trails On A Cold January Weekend

The second week of January is  coldest time  of the year here in Northeastern Pennsylvania. And it is not my favorite time of year. This past weekend it was seasonably cold  when I woke up Saturday morning. Temperatures were in the 20’s which is average  for mid January.   Many January’s  mornings are  a lot colder.   But there were   also a couple of inches of new  snow on the ground. I am not a fan of the snow and cold anymore and I don’t like walking on it  or driving in it. So I decided to stay close to home  and hike on the Greater Hazleton Rails to Trails.

Some folks love the snow and cold weather. I used to but not anymore.   Although I don’t like the cold and snow I still got to get my hiking in.  I can’t just sit in the house so I will hike in the worst weather.  So I  drove through the snowy streets and I began my hike at the Broad Street/Route 93 trail head  of the Rails to Trails in Hazel Township. I was the only car in the snow covered parking lot when I arrived.  It was snowing hard as I began my hike.  I walked past the snow covered bear at the entrance to the trail and found about two new inches of snow on the ground.

Although I didn’t like trudging through the falling snow in the cold and wind,

I will admit the the Winter wonderland the snow created was beautiful.

The snow covered  the cones,

and  needles on the pine trees ,

and the withered   flowers from last Summer along the trail.

The benches along the trails, some still decorated for Christmas,  added to the winter scene.

I followed the trail in the heavy falling snow.  It took a turn to the south and east. Here,

under the snow, the trail was covered in  ice from recent rainstorm before an arctic cold from arrived.  This made it even more difficult to walk and you had to be careful.

I  decided to leave the main trail and hike into the pine/scrub oak barrens in the Butler Preserve  located along the trail. There is more information on this nature  preserve in my previous blogs which can be found using the search tool in my blog.

I followed the narrow trail up ridge  through snow covered pitch pines,

with snow covered sheep laurel along the trail.

It was  magical white world walking on the trail,

under the tall pitch pines.

I followed the trail through the  preserve and the Winter wonderland created by the snow,

and to an old haul road where the preserve ends.

I then walked back down to the main trail.

There were now tracks on the trail, it looked like someone was walking their dog in the snow.

I followed the trail  out to the Stockton Mountain road  where the trail crosses the road,

and  continues through the land of the local water authority .

I walked out to the one mile mark , where I met the man walking his dog on the snow covered trail.

I began my hike back observing the beauty of the withered bracken ferns,

ostrich ferns

and deer tongue grass  covered in snow.

It wasn’t easy trudging through the snow as slowly walked back to the parking lot.  I was disappointed, but not too surprised , that I didn’t see any wildlife or bird activity on my 3 mile hike.

At the parking lot I stopped at the Memorial to Thomas M. Ogorzalek,  past President of the  Hazleton Civic Partnership  and very active in supporting the Greater Hazleton Railsto Trails. He was also my friend.  He loved the outdoors and spent many days hiking in the cold and snow. I am sure he appreciated the snow angel I made at the Memorial.  It wasn’t my favorite hiking weather but the beauty of the trail covered in snow made my decision to hike here a good one. If you love the cold and snow this is a great place to enjoy it.  Here is a link to a gallery on my blog web page  with some more photos from  my snowy hike .  Greater Hazleton Rails To Trails January 17 2026.

Well I got to do it again. When I awoke on Sunday morning, I was surprised to again find it had snowed overnight. We got another 2 inches and a light snow was falling.My backyard was again a winter wonderland and, like on Saturday, I decided to stay close to home and return to hike on the Greater Hazleton Rails to Trails.

This time I decided to hike on the eastern trail head near the village of Hazel Brook. It wasn’t easy getting there since the road to Hazel Brooke was not plowed. The snow had slowed down when I had arrived at the trail and began my hike. There were no tracks on the trail so I was the first one to walk in the newly fallen snow.

Once again I trudges through the snow.  There was more snow on this  part of the trail. Once again, although I wasn’t enjoying trudging through the snow  in the cold, I appreciated the beauty of the Winter wonderland it created.

I walked past the utility pole line  and thought about the many Spring and Summer  hikes  I took and followed it over the mountain to the Penrose Reservoir now part of the Weiser State Forest.  In my younger years I would hike there even in the snow or cold.  I would have no problem walking over 10 miles in a deep snow. 

Not anymore,  I had hiked 4 miles on the plowed roads near my home earlier in the morningand I was tired already. I  was only going to hike couple of miles on the trail. As always, I hoped to see some wildlife or bird activity on my hikes, even in the Winter. Unfortunately, like  my hike the day before I didn’t see any critters stirring in the snow covered woods. 

It was pretty scene as I walked past the snow covered mountain laurel,

and pitch pine trees  along the trail,

some towering over the trail. 

Once again I  noticed the snow covered withered  plants  standing out in the whiteness along the trail including the Japanese bristlegrass, 

sweet fern,

steeplebush, and 

green briar leaves. 

I hiked out about a mile when I decided to start back,

and on the way, near the culvert under an active coal mine haul road, I saw another set of tracks in the snow..  Another person hiked on the trail but turmed back at the culvert. 

I continued my hile back  and there were more tracks in snow.  They,  too, told a tale.  A few deer crossed over the trail since I began my hikle. . 

And,  I would finally hear, and then see,  some wildlife on the trail  some birds wqere active. First a white breasted nuthatch called out in the cold, and then I saw it hoping down a tree trunk, foraging for seeds or frozen insects.

As is often the case in Winter diffferent species of birds forage together and I also saw this hairy woodpecker,

and it’s smaller cousin , a downy woodpecker  pecking on some tree trunks. I heard a flock of tufted titmice but didn’t see  them.

I hiked back to the trail head parking lot and saw the tire tracks from the car of the person who hiked out the trail after me.

I  fisnished my 2 mile hike in the Janaury Winter wonderland and was glad the road back was now plowed.  Although walking in the snow isn’t my favorite pastime I enjoyed the beauty of nature along the trail. If you do like the cold and snow it is a great place  to hike, snow shoe or cross country ski. and enjoy the beauty of the Winter scenery.   Here is a link to a gallery on my blog web page  with some more photos from my 2 mile  hike in the snow.  Greater Hazleton Rails To Trails January 18 2026.

“Snow was falling, so much like stars. filling the dark trees. that one could easily imagine. its reason for being was nothing more. than prettiness.” – Mary Oliver