Exploring The New Trails In The Catawissa Recreation Area Addition To The Weiser State Forest.

I was in the Weiser State Forest again last weekend. This time I was in Schuylkill County.  I hiked  on  the recently opened trails in the 725 acre  Catawissa South  potion of the Catawissa Recreation Area.   The Catawissa Recreation Area is an almost 6000 acre addition to the Weiser State Forest  in northern  Schuylkill County and southern Luzerne County. This  area has 20 miles of new single track trails open to dual-sport motorcycles.  The trails are also open to hikers.  I wasn’t sure what to expect when I decided to visit  the state forest early Saturday morning. I was the only car in the parking lot along the Lofty Road when I arrived around 7 :30 a.m. The parking lot is located about a mile past Interstate 81 overpass  bridge. .

It was a warm and cloudy morning when  I began my hike on Trail 1 shown on  a map that was available in the parking lot. You can tell the narrow trail was just recently  cut through a mostly young  chestnut oak, gray birch and red maple woodland.  It didn’t look like there was  a lot of dual-sport motorcycle traffic yet.  The trail just opened in early July and I am sure it will have a lot more users very soon. .  I was glad there was no one else on the trail on my first  hike here.

The there were a lot of rocks , cut trees stumps, and exposed  tree roots on the the newly opened trail. This probably would be no problem for the off road  motorcycles,  but it was  not good for my  old legs and feet. I had taken a couple tumbles new trails I hiked this past year. I walked carefully on the trail.

The trail was surrounded by scrub or bear oak trees with  black huckleberry bushes

near the ground under the scrub oaks.   Mountain laurel and  pitch pines also were growing in the woodlands.

Bracken ferns,

and large patches of tea berries, many now with  flowers, grew  on and around the trail.  The trail is not far from Interstate 81 and you could here the traffic on the trail.

I was surprised to see a lot of young black tupelo or black gum trees on the trail. I haven’t seen many in the other state tracts of the Weiser State Forest. These trees produce flowers that attract bees and other insects.  The fruit in the fall provides food for birds migrating south for the Winter. The first part of the trail was freshly cut into the scrub oak woodland.I didn’t see or hear any birds on the trail for the first 1/4 mile or so .The trail took me to a wider, more used trail Trail 44. ( The trail map was a bit confusing)  It appeared there were  some motorcycles using this trail. The trail continued on the  downward slope that started  from the parking lot.

After following  the trail a few hundred yards , it took me to an area with more mature chestnut oak trees,

and cinnamon  ferns.

It was hear I heard, and saw the first bird on the trail, one of my favorites. A male rose breasted grosbeak.

And as is often the case, birds like to forage together for safety, and  I saw a few other birds in this area, including a male scarlet tanager,

 a black throated blue warbler,

a black and white warbler,

a chestnut sided warbler,

a red eyed vireo,

and pair of eastern towhees.  I saw more birds here than my almost 8 miles of hiking on the trails over the next two days.  It was still overcast and not much light under the trees so I wasn’t able to get clear photos of the bird saw here.

The trail continued through  the   mostly chestnut oak and scrub oak second growth woodland. The trail I was now on must have been used  by hunters since there were some 0ld deer hunting trees stands in the  older trees along the trail.

The trail continued through the woodlands, and took me down to a newly built wooden bridge over the Lofty Creek. I had picked mushrooms along this creek in the nearby village of Lofty a few years ago.

After crossing the bridge I passed through a small, mostly hemlock,  woodland,

before  the trail began to climb back  up a ridge to the northern summit  of  the Broad Mountain.

It was along this mountain where  the historic Catawissa Railroad right of way passed   through the famous 1000 foot Lofty Tunnel  built through the Broad Mountain in 1854. I hiked and drove out  to the tunnel of the old rail road right of way many times. On  this hike I was on the ridge above  the old railroad right of way

As I walked up the ridge I began to see large rock formations along the trail.

I continued up the trail which  took me to the Tunnel Trail that followed the top of the ridge .

I am very familiar with this large exposed rocks from my many hikes on  mountain ridges near my home in Hazle Township.  It reminded me of the large boulders on the nearby Stony Mountain. I spent many hours over the years exploring rock formation like these. Sadly industrial parks, residential development and warehouses have  clear cut many of the woodlands below these ridges  leaving only small  patches  of woodlands on the hilltops. I will return to this trail and re-live my happy memories   hiking on the trails of my youth before they were destroyed.

 In addition to  the many large rock formations and outcrops atop the ridge, I saw many of the familiar chestnut oak  and pitch pines trees with bent branches contorted by the winds on the top of the ridge.

I am sure there would be copperhead snakes and rattlesnakes in these rocks on a sunny  afternoon.

I could  get glimpses of the valley below but there were no overlooks where I could  get nice view. Once again I  had limited time on my hike  , I had birthday party for my great nephew in the afternoon,  so I didn’t have time to look for overlooks or snakes.

I did see hear a few wood and hermit thrushes singing their melodic, haunting songs  in the woodlands below  the ridge, and I was able to get a photo of this hermit thrush.

I walked for almost a mile on the ridge top,seeing this red eft on the trail. I  was surprised to see it up here at this high elevation. The trail was about 1725 feet above sea level, about the same elevation of my home in Hazle Township.

There were  few mushrooms growing  along the trail on the ridge top   including  a few species of bolete mushroom,

these Amanita mushrooms  and this,

I believe an artist’s conk,  type  bracket fungus.

Hay-scented and rock polypody ferns grew on and around the huge rock formations on the ridge top.

I followed  the trail on the ridge  for about 1 1/2 miles.  I was a nice hike.  The sun appeared and warmed up the cooler morning air. I came to the end of the ridge where the Lofty Tunnel bore through the mountain almostv200 years ago.

The trail continued onward for about a 1/4 mile. I didn’t follow it since I had to  to get back so a followed a side trail down the ridge.

It took me back to the Tunnel trail which continued through another mostly chestnut oak forest like the trail I hiked up to the ridge. It was another newly cut rail with plenty of rocks and roots. and I wasn’t happy when it looped back up the ridge a few times. But I guess it was designed for the dual purpose motorcycles and not for old men.

It eventually took me back down the the Lofty Creek, where I came to another bridge over the creek,

and then entered  a another grove of hemlock trees in the.wetter, and  lower  elevation along the creek.

Here I saw and heard some more wood thrushes

and oven birds.

I followed the Tunnel Trail past some interesting named side trails, the False Advertising Trail, The Billboard Road Trail, and the Highway Hillclimb Trail.  I hope to hike and explore all of these trails on future visits to the forest.  I could have followed a few other trails back along  the ridge. Because of the roots and rocks I knew it would be  a slow hike.

So  I decided to walk to the Lofty Road  and follow it back to the parking lot.  It was almost  noon now. The strong July sun warmed the temperature into the mid 80’s. I didn’t realize it was over a mile hike back on the Lofty Road. I also didn’t realize it was mostly an uphill incline.

I walked past the former Agmet  silver recycling  plant which was placed on a Superfund list because of the chemical contamination the plant produced.

I then slowly walked in th mid day heat  toward the parking lot. It was still an uphill hike.  The Lofty Road was more  like a paved trail then highway. One one motor vehicle passed me on my mile walk.

The elevation at the parking lot was actually higher than the ridge top I just hiked.  I was tired, thirsty and hungry when I finished my 5 1/2 5 hour hike at the parking lot. There were  now a few cars and trailers in the parking lot but I did not see another person or motorcycle on my hike.   I don’t think it be so quiet here in few more weeks. This will be a popular destination for bikers and hikers when the word gets out.  Here is a link to a photo gallery on my blog page with some more photos from my five mile hike in our new state forest. Weiser State Forest Catawissa South July 11 2026.

The next morning I decided to return to the Catawisssa South  tract of the Weiser State Forest and  explore  more of the trails.  I arrived a little later, around 8 a.m. and parked along the Lofty Road. It was a sunny and warm morning when I began my hike up on  Trail 13 on the map.

I walked up  a steep hillside in the early morning sunshine.  It was apparent that there was a lot more motorcycle traffic on this trail.  The woodlands along th  trail were   lot like the trails I  hiked on Saturday, taking me through mostly chestnut oak and scrub oak woodland.

This time,  however, brilliant morning sunshine lit up the woodlands.It was a nice trail. Again, the only  criticism  was the loud noise from the traffic on the nearby Interstate highway.

Despite the noise from the traffic I was still able to hear the songs of a pair of eastern wood pewees,

and a family of eastern towhees. This is a male,

and this a recently fledged juvenile.

After about a 1/2 mile on the trail, walking with the sun filtering through the trees,  I came to the Agmet Road Trail. This was  a wider old dirt road . It  reminded me of many similar roads in the woods near my home when I was a boy. They could have been shorts cuts to a nearby patch town,  old mining roads, or roads cut through the forests by hunters.  I hiked many,  many miles on roads like this.  Like the similar roads near my home it looked like there was a lot of illegal dumping along the road over the years. Folks  back then disposed of old furniture, shingles, cloths another thrash by driving along road in the woods and just tossing their thrash into the woods.  The forestry service did a good job cleaning up the old thrash but a seasoned old timer like me can see the few signs of the old “dumps’ along the trail.

All that being said it was  still a nice trail to hike in the morning sunshine. Many pitch pines grew along the trail and I love their contrast with the deep blue skies. Many memories of boyhood hikes came back on that road.

And I found some wildflowers blooming along the road including invasive oxeye  daisies,

and native self heal flowers.

And where there are  wildflowers there are insects, bees and butterflies, I  saw  a red spotted  admiral butterfly ,

a little satyr butterfly , and,

a common wood nymph butterfly.

I tried to find and hike on the  trail marked Trail 15 0r 16 on the map.  I was trying to hike to the Sinking Run Trail.  I couldn’t find the trail so followed the Agmet Road Trail out about a mile and came to the Trail  18 on the map.   I followed it into the mostly oak woodlands. Once again I found a lot of rocks and exposed roots on the newly cut trail.

I followed it a short distance and came to Trail 19. I was a bit confused again. I was trying to get to the Sinking Run Trail.  I decided to take the right fork in the trail. It was not the path to the Sinking Run Trail.

I followed this trail through another mostly chestnut oak woodlands,

here I saw a few more scarlet tanagers. They were very common in these woodlands.

I also saw a family of white breasted nuthatches.

The trail meandered through the woodlands and took me back to the Agmet Road, not where I wanted to be. I followed it back to Trail 18 and to Trail 19. This time I followed the left fork in the trail. Now I finally found the  Sinking  Run Trail, and also got near Interstate 81 and the associated noise from the traffic.

Here I saw a family of rose breasted gros-beaks. This is either a female or juvenile.

The trail continued through the mostly chestnut oak woodland  but, as it approached the Sinking Run Creek, there were more mature  red and white oak trees along the trail.

There were also some more mushrooms growing in the   wetter soils near the creek, including   colorful  purple corts,

and red Russula,

and these edible oyster mushrooms.   Here is a link to a photo gallery on my blog page with some more photos of the plants, mushrooms and insects  I saw  on  my  hikes in our new state forest. Weiser State Forest Catawissa South  plants July 11-12  2026.

The trail  brought me to another new bridge,

this  one  crossed the  Sinking Run  creek..

There were some larger red oak,  white oak and  some mature sweet birch trees, near the creek.

The trail continued along a ridge below the busy interstate highway. Like the trails I hiked on  Saturday it appeared to be a new trail designed for use for the motorcyclists.  On this trail I encountered  my first group of dual use motorcyclists.  A group of six drove past me. They were  obeying the 25 mile per hour speed limit and were very friendly as they passed by.

 After hiking  about a  mile the trail turned  came to another fork.  I has walked over 3  miles now and wanted to head back so I took the fork that I taught would take me back down to the  Lofty Road.

It was a  trail that looked like it had just been cut a few days ago. Freshly cut black huckleberry bushes, ferns and other plants  were strewn on the tail .  I was probably  the first person to hike on it.

I wasn’t sure what trail it was on the map. and was glad to see Trail 30 after about a 1/4 mile  hike on the newly cut trail.  Trail 30 had  seen some motorcycle traffic and I followed it through  a mostly pich pine woodland.  These woods again reminded of woods near my home wereI grew up and  spent many days and hours as a child.

Here I heard, and saw a few common  yellowthorats.  Their cheerful songs were welcome after  the traffic noise from the Interstate. Here is a link to a photo gallery on my blog page with some more photos of the birds I sawn  on my  hikes in our new state forest. Weiser State Forest Catawissa South  birds  July 11-12  2026.

The trail took me to another bridge, this one over what appeared to be the headwaters of  the Sinking Run Creek.  I have since learned that the Lofty Creek and Sinking Run are two of the headwater  stream of the Little Schyulkill River, which became the Schyulkill River. The Schyulkill River is one of the three  river I am blessed to have near my home the others being the Delaware  River, and my favorite, the ancient Susquehanna River.

I now had to make another choice.  The trail split again and I wasn’t sure were either fork would take me. I wanted to get back to the Lofty Road now. I was out over 4 miles and it was getting close to noon.  It was sunny and in mid July the sun is intense. The temperatures  were in the 80’s now.

Looking on the map it looked like I could take the trail the left  and  avoid the two trails named Slab Trail and Rock Slide Trail.  I would love to explore these trails but not after I had  been hiking for over 4 miles.

I followed  trail for about  a 1/4 mile and came to Trail 32 . I tried to find a trail to get me  to Trail 34  and Trail 39 but instead I came to a trail on the beneath   ridge of large rocks  and boulders.

I followed the trail and came to Trail 37. It  looked like  I was going to hike up and down  the Sliding Rock Trail.

It wasn’t too  difficult as I follwed it up the rocky ridge. I was used to hiking on these large rock outrops.  I wouldn’t want  to drive a motorcycle over them.

I would have loved to explore the rocks and boulders and look for snakes but it  was hot and I still had to walk another mile to get back to my Jeep. After climbing over the ridge I was relieved to find Trail 42. It was another,  wider old road,  and it looked like it would take me  down to the Lofty Road.

It did. I now had about another mile to get back to my Jeep. I started to walk back on the little used road. After walking past the abandoned Agmet Superfund site , I decided to hike back in the woods  and follow the Shotgun Trail.  It looked like it was the same distance and would let me explore some more of new addition to our State forests.

So I walked backto the Agmet Road trail, and back  Trail 19.  This time I followed Trail 19 the Shotgun Trail, backto my Jeep.  Once again it wasn’t a straight trail, it weaved  up and down the ridge.  It  was also covered in rocks and roots.   It made for a exhausting end to my five mile hike.  Here is a link to photo gallery on my blog page with some more photos from another  five mile hike in our new state forest. Weiser State Forest Catawissa South July 12 2026.

It was almost 1 p.m. when I ended my hike. I enjoyed hiking  on the new rails. The only  criticism I  would havewould be the noise from the traffic from the Interstate  Highway.   But, to dual motorcyclists this won’t be a problem. When  I return it would be to hike back up to rdige top where I hiked on Saturday. And I am waiting for the 5000 acre northern section of the Catawissa Recreation Area to open for hiking.

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to  lay in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” – John Muir