When an Uwharrie club trip fell through due to rain, Ken and Ben decided to travel anyway since they had the weekend blocked out. Allegheny National Forest in northwestern PA provided the perfect spot to explore with fall colors approaching peak and a rain forecast that didn’t require a boat!
Attendees:
- Ben – Toyota 4Runner
- Ken – Jeep TJ
Since the area was unfamiliar, it was decided to base camp at Cook Forest State Park, which lies southwest of the national forest. On the way to camp on Friday, Ben decided to hike and explore some of the old growth forest in Forest Cathedral.
Saturday the two hit the road with an ambitious loop exploring a few of the supposedly harder trails in the eastern part of the national forest. It required about a 45-minute drive there and back and by the end of the day the route covered 180 miles! Before that, they stopped at a historic fire tower near camp which Ben couldn’t help but climb while Ken supervised from the ground.
Most of the roads in the national forest are well graded gravel with some rougher sections and two track sprinkled in. The first of the harder routes was Two Mile trail which was only hard due to a tighter section near the middle. Both rigs managed the trail in two-wheel drive although Ben touched skid plates in his 4Runner in one deep set of ruts.
After wandering around the forest a bit, the next challenging trail to attempt was labeled “Bad Day to Be a Skid Plate” which had both Ben and Ken excited! While neither rig hit skids on this trail it was a steep rocky and rutted trail that had limited line choices over the rocks. They had so much fun they forgot to stop and take pictures but Ken put together a video of the trail Bad Day to Be a Skid Plate! After a bit more exploring the two headed back to camp a little weary from the long day in their rigs but happy with the beautiful scenery and fun trails they had experienced.
Sunday was intended to be a bit more of a low-key day exploring the areas closer to camp and not covering as many miles. The day started with a paved road that followed the Clarion River for approximately 25 miles.
From there the group headed north through the forest on some nice gravel roads to a lunch spot at town park that had a pavilion that provided some shelter for lunch.
After lunch the intention was to make a big loop back to camp but alas that was not to be… As Ben stopped to check out a large tree in the road, Ken came over the radio to report he had a control arm problem. The tree was more than the group could handle and more critically Ken had lost the bolt for his front lower control arm. A quick search located the bolt (but not the nut) which provided a temporary fix that allowed Ken to limp his Jeep to the closest open hardware store nearly an hour away! Being in rural PA meant that the closer local stores were all closed because it was Sunday! After getting Ken patched back together the group headed back to camp to relax around one last roaring fire before heading home on Monday.
On Monday Ken packed up and headed home, and Ben headed east to Kinzua Bridge State Park which offered some stunning views despite the heavy cloud cover.
Allegheny National Forest proved to be a great area to explore, especially in the fall when the leaves are changing. There are way more roads to check out than the two had time for and it is a great place to explore in a stock vehicle or for those new to off-pavement exploration.
Tracks: 20261010 Allegheny NF Exploration and 20261011 Allegheny NF Exploration
Photos and Tracks Provided by Ben Dunkerton and Ken Kyler