Hiking And Exploring The Weiser State Forest And Bethlehem Water Authority Trails In Carbon County

I was in the Weiser State Forest early on the 4th of July.  Weiser State Forest consists of  16 tracts in Carbon, Columbia, Dauphin, Northumberland, and Schuylkill counties.  I was back at the Penn Forest tract  in Carbon County.

I began my hike at the  Sawmill Trail. The trail head is  located  on Stony Mountain Road just off of Route 903 in Penn Forest Township.  I was the only car in the parking lot on the sunny  and cool morning.  I had hiked in the southern portion of this tract the previous week.  The trail was a wide dirt road that took me through a mostly oak and maple woodland .

The first thing I noticed were the lush growth of ferns along the trail. Interrupted  ferns,

 hay-scented,   and

sensitive ferns grew along the trail in  the brilliant morning sunshine.

A few  daisy fleabane flowers and

 large patches of milkweed flowers bloomed along the trail.  It was a cool night and there wasn’t a lot of insect activity yet. I hoped I would see some butterflies when it warmed up on my return hike.

Invasive coltsfoot also grew along the trail, 

as did some native dangleberry bushes.

There wasn’t a lot of  bird or wildlife activity either but I enjoyed walking under the woodland as the sun filtered through the canopy of leaves.

It was a beautiful place to be early on a July morning. In about 1/2 mile the Sawmill Trail intersected with the Penn Forest Trail. I had hiked on this trail the previous week and followed the Sawmill Trail until where it ended at the Boundary Line Trail  at the lands of the Bethlehem  Water Authority.

Here I saw some invasive Japanese stilt grass. This invasive grass is very destructive to the native plants and I am concerned it may over take the lush and beautiful ferns growing along the trail.

I decided to walk on the trails in the Bethlehem  Water Authority property. They are open to the public. The trail took was no longer dirt but was covered with grass. I would have liked walking on this grass covered trail when I hiked in the woods as a child. There were not a lot ticks in the woods back then. In fact  it was only 20 years ago that I saw my first tick in Pennsylvania.  So if you hike this trail I would suggest wearing long pants or insect repellent.

It was nice trail to hike.  After a short distance the forest was more open with some maple trees. There still wasn’t a lot of bird activity. I think the cool night had the insects grounded and the birds weren’t feeding yet or it just wasn’t good bird habitat.

However when I approached the Pinoak Creek  I did start to see some birds.

I believe the wet conditions and the plants and trees that grew there was better habitat for the birds I saw, including  a few common yellowthroats, and

a blue headed vireo,

and a red eyed vireo.

I followed the trail for about another half mile,

and saw a few oven birds,

an American restart,

and this veery.

The trail was now more open and there were many old pitch pine trees in the woodlands along the trail.

Here I saw this large ant nest,

with some ants crawling in and out of the many entrances. It reminded me of the large ant hill on the trail where we picked mushrooms with my dad. He would cut up apples from a tree growing in the woods and feed them to the ants. Good times they were.

After I had hike a little over  2 miles I came to the lands of a private hunting club that were posted.

The trail I was on followed the boundary.

It now passed some wetlands,

where I found these mushrooms,

and some fresh black bear  scat. It was very fresh. I now hoped to see a bear but I wasn’t so fortunate. I love seeing this large and graceful critters on my hikes.

I stopped hiking after about 2 1/2 miles. The trail continued first down  and then over a ridge and would meet up with the trails I hiked up form the Hell Hollow road in another mile or so.   I wanted to hike out on the trail but it was late morning and I wanted to get back for a 4th of July picnic.

So I began my hike back.

The strong July sun warmed the chilly morning air and it was in the upper 70’s as I finished my hike.

There wasn’t much bird activity on my return hike either. I only saw a few eastern towhees,

an eastern wood peewee

and this colorful chestnut sided warbler. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog web page with some more photos of the birds I saw on my hike. Penn Forest Tract Weiser State Forest birds July 4 2025.

The warmer temperatures attracted some butterflies and bees to the patches of milkweed near the trial head. I saw a few spicebush swallow tail,

and tiger swallowtail butterflies on the milkweed flowers but not a single monarch butterfly.   I did not see one this year. Ten years ago I would see dozens wherever I found milkweed growing. The have become rare and endangered because of loss of habitat.

As I was finishing my hike I was disappointed I didn’t see any bear, snakes or more exotic species of birds to share here on my blog. However, as I neared  my Jeep I did see some interesting critters , these being ridden by humans. A group of folks passed me on horseback.  

I ended my five mile hike, and although I didn’t see a lot of wildlife I enjoyed the peace and quiet of the trails, and the  beauty of the woodlands. It is just as enjoyable looking for wildlife as it is finding it. I love the natural beauty of the forest and woodlands of Northeastern Pennsylvania and being able to share it here on my blog. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog web page with some more photos from  my  5 mile hike. Penn Forest Tract Weiser State Forest July 4 2025.

“Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting..”  Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Nature is too thin a screen; the glory of the omnipresent God bursts through everywhere .”  Ralph Waldo Emer