More Bald Eagle State Forest

[daveh]

I've been reading trip reports on the forum for a while hoping for some information about places to explore in PA so that we could make it a weekend trip and BESF seemed to be a reoccurring destination. Our first trip to BESF was back in September. I used the excellent report found here on the forum and Purple Lizard map as our guide. We explored Negro Hollow Trail, Paddy Mtn Rd and Henstep Valley Trail.

We made our second trip this weekend. We stayed at the same place as our first trip - RB Winter State Park. The park has about 50 sites, many with electric hook-ups, clean large rest rooms, and offers a good place to explore the surrounding forest. We decided we'd try Poe Paddy Dr. this time as I read it mentioned as a favorite.

We headed out Friday afternoon; around 3 by the time we got home from work and got everything packed. We arrived at around 7 after a dinner stop and some PA turnpike traffic. Friday night was a cold one with lows in the 20s. Thankfully the sites have electric and a small space heater kept us warm inside the small pop-up. I woke in the early morning to what sure sounded like coyotes but who knows? I was more concerned by the other thought I had during this time - I forgot to pack the propane stove so now what is the food plan? One of the best parts of camping after all is the food! We decided we would find food on the way to Poe Paddy. Thankfully Purple Lizard maps had some suggestions so we headed out to the town of Millheim. There are so many farms in this part of PA.

 

[daveh]

Another shot as we continued down from the highest points.

The trail ended at Poe Paddy State Park. A nice park that we will be coming back to for another stay. No hook-ups, but plenty of sites and next to a nice stream that looks like it could be a nice place for some fishing.


We decided to check out one more trail before lunch. I was thinking about Kammerdiner Rd as it has also been discussed but it seemed so far from our current location that we decided on Strongs Mtn Rd and Longwell Draft Rd. Strongs Mtn is a short but worth a drive - rocky, but again 4x4 not really needed. This took us to Longwell Draft. LONG being the key word. GPS listed this as 8 miles to being back on paved road. We drove about 1.5 miles. Lots of rocks limited the pace to about 5 miles per hour so we turned around and headed to lunch. The rocks didn't pose any issues with getting stuck or doing damage they just limited speed and we didn't want to go 8 miles and not know if the road would get too narrow or become somehow impassable.
Lunch stop was back in Millheim. A place called Elk Creek Cafe and Ale House. They have a small food menu; again all local suppliers and about 8 crafts brews on tap. We sampled 3 and found them all to be worth the stop. A band was setting up so I'm guessing they have live music at least on Saturday nights. We made our way back to camp late in the afternoon and started a campfire. Another cold night but a warm fire, and to our surprise many campsites decorated for Halloween and trick-or-treaters kept us from thinking about the cold.

For those thinking about exploring Bald Eagle, I'd highly recommend Purple Lizard maps. The maps legend shows what is considered a drivable trail. Some are named ending in Rd and others and in Tr. It seems the trails are a bit more of a challenge and require four wheel drive. You can also look for signs at the trail heads. Some will state drivable trail while others list drivable trail - 4 wheel drive recommended.

 

[mortonm]

awesome! nice to relive some of the memories and views in a new light with most of the lights down.

Longwell Draft Road was just as you said, long. Never really gets any harder but as you said you can really only go at a few miles an hour. Took us an hour and a half to complete it. We used 4lo often just for the lower crawl ratio, otherwise most things are doable in a high clearance 2WD vehicle.

Glad you found Milheim, a nice little spot, especially Elk Creek Cafe

 

[gren Emil]

Bald Eagle State Forest is also home to the famous Penns Creek and White Deer Creek fly fishing creeks. Like to explore with a paddle or float? There are water trails for canoes and kayaks and some excellent creeks perfect for a slow float on a tube.

 

[mortonm]

I don't fish as much as I like, and have never fly fished. I could still tell as we were exploring around that these were world class fly fishing locations. They were right out of the textbook. Mostly I saw Penn's Creek from on high but the Penn's Creek Pilsner at the Elk Creek Cafe and Aleworks was also first class! Brought a growler of it home I enjoyed it so much.

 

[OverlandZJ]

I'v driven past BESF so many times enroute to other destinations.. one of these days I need to stop and see the sites.

nice pics, thanks for sharing.