Mauch Chunk Lake Park to Jim Thorpe, PA on the Switchback Trail

ABOUT THE PARK:
Mauch Chunk Lake Park - Carbon County, PA
Switchback Railroad - Visit PA
Switchback Railroad Trail - Traillink.com

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 40.843525, -75.805139

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Parking at the boat launch to the left of the park office.

TRAIL MAP:

• I could find no good maps online.  I used the USGS Topo Maps for Nesquehoning (1997) and Lehighton (1997) that showed some of the trail but not all.

• You can see the Switchback Trail very well in Google Earth or satellite view in Googlemaps (search for Jim Thorpe, PA)

• The park had a very nice map in the kiosk but it was hard to photograph with the glare.  The park office was closed and there were no maps in the holder outside.

The Switchback Railroad is a white dashed line - very hard to make out.  The red arrow indicates the kiosk this map is in at the park entrance.

This map is more clear but does not show any detail.  The park office is in the wrong place - it should be where the words "Mauch Chunk Creek Lake" are.

HIKE DISTANCE:
11 miles

THE HIKE:

Facing Mauch Chunk Lake, turn left and follow the gravel road.  It will turn left away from the lake and meet up with the Switchback Trail then continue past a yellow cabin to the dam.

It was a very cold morning with frost but the lake water was still warm so fog was rising from the lake.

The frosty dam.

A bench on the dam.  And more frost.

On the dam.  No lake views because of the fog but maybe at the end of the hike.  (The Switchback Trail does not go over the dam, it is a short out-and-back from the Switchback Trail.)

The Switchback Trail proceeds through a tunnel of hemlock and rhododendron.

Mauch Chunk Creek comes in from the right, goes under a bridge, then...

... flows along the left side of the trail.

The trail appears to end abruptly at West Broadway and Flagstaff Roads.  Turn right on West Broadway and continue along a short distance.  (There will be no more signs indicating you are on the Switchback Trail from this point forward.)

Just past this sign turn left where the guardrail opens up to the left...

... through the orange gates (that say no trespassing but are open and you HAVE to go that way to pick up the trail again)

After entering at the gates keep right with the buildings and fence on your left an the creek on your right.  The trail will enter the woods again just beyond those evergreens up ahead.

Back into the woods with the creek on the right and even though there are no signs, this is the Switchback Trail.

Coming into town, the trail follows along a retaining wall of a cemetery on the left.

When the trail veers left comes to a paved road, turn left on the paved road (this will be Center Avenue) and continue on a few blocks to the school building.  Mount Pisgah, where the trail continues, is the mountain up ahead.  At the school building turn right on Pine Avenue, then left on North Avenue.

A short distance up North Avenue, turn right on the gravel road (called Wagon Road but no sign) which ascends steeply.

The Wagon Road switchbacks up to the Switchback Trail at the bridge abutment.  Turn right here and follow the trail for a loop to views.

When the loop trail makes a sharp left, turn right again for a short out-and-back to the engine house ruins.

Turn around for some seasonal views and the steep Mount Pisgah Plane which leads to the base of the mountain in town.  Retrace back to the where the loop trail turned sharply left and continue on to...

... spectacular views of the Lehigh River gorge.  You can make out a smaller gorge in the upper center of the picture.  That would be...

Glen Onoko Falls

Lehigh River

Continue back to the abutment but be sure to take the left fork down because the bridge is missing if you take the right fork.

Looking back at Jim Thorpe.

The trail flows along very smoothly with seasonal views to the left.

Having a drink out of Indian Spring.  For some reason that tastes better than the filtered water I lug for her.

A chunk of trail is missing along a rock wall where you would have to cross on a very narrow ledge.  Fortunately there is trail down below to bypass this since I did not think it was a good idea for Shawnee to cross on the narrow ledge.  Neither did she.  The drop is much steeper than it looks in the picture.  (This is looking back on it after detouring around.)

This is below that rock slab taking the detour route.

The Switchback Trail becomes more narrow and apparently less used after that rock slab but it's still easy going and Mauch Chunk Lake comes into view.

This is looking back at the trail we arrived on to the left at Five Mile Tree Crossover.  The Switchback trail continues to the right so coming down it would be a hard left turn to continue back to Mauch Chunk Lake Park.

The Switchback Trail goes through front yards for a bit...

... before crossing the road at the park entrance.

Now the fog has lifted and there is a lake view!

HIKE SUMMARY:
[  0.00]  Face lake, turn left and follow gravel road as it veers left away from lake
[  0.10]  At T-intersection turn right on Switchback Trail
[  0.35]  Pass yellow cabin on left, dam on right; keep right at fork on Switchback Trail when the Orchard Trail veers left
[  0.45]  Keep right at bench and sign for Board Bottom, Switchback and Fire Line Trails
[  0.55]  Turn right for short out-and-back on the dam
[  0.80]  Continue right on Switchback Trail returning from dam
[  1.10]  Keep straight when the Board Bottom Trail leaves to the left
[  1.25]  Mauch Chunk Creek comes in from the right then goes under bridge and continues to the left of the trail
[  1.50]  Continue straight when the Fire Line Trail leaves to the right
[  2.35]  At intersection with West Broadway and Flagstaff Roads, cross West Broadway, turn right and walk along guardrail
[  2.50]  Turn left leaving West Broadway, continue through orange gates, turn right and continue straight with chain link fence on left and creek on right
[  2.60]  Switchback Trail enters woods
[  3.00]  Keep straight when two trails leave to the left
[  3.30]  Keep straight when trail leaves to the left
[  3.45]  Keep straight on paved trail that continues sharply to the right (directional arrow painted on pavement); after a few steps leave paved path to the right at fork (arrow painted on pavement)
[  3.60]  At bench and two posts, cross straight over paved road that loops around, continue straight on grass to continuation of trail straight ahead
[  3.85]  Cemetery on left other side of retaining wall
[  4.20]  Trail veers to the left to paved Center Street, turn left on Center Avenue
[  4.50]  Turn right on Pine Avenue at school building, go 1 block then turn left on North Avenue
[  4.65]  Veer right on gravel road uphill (called Wagon Road but no sign)
[  4.75]  Keep straight uphill when gravel road to the right leads to water tower
[  5.00]  Gravel road switchbacks to the right
[  5.15]  Gravel road switchbacks to the left
[  5.25]  At T-intersection at the top at the bridge abutment, turn right
[  5.35]  When the trail makes a sharp turn to the left, turn right
[  5.40]  Engine house ruins, Mount Pisgah Plane, seasonal views; retrace
[  5.45]  Continue straight when trail arrived on comes in from left; few steps ahead fire ring and views to the right at rock outcrop
[  5.55]  Veer left at fork, straight goes to top of bridge abutment; at interpretive sign keep straight on Switchback Trail which follows the dip that the bridge would have crossed
[  5.60]  Keep straight when a trail goes downhill to the right
[  5.65]  Other partial bridge abutment; keep left at fork
[  6.00]  Keep straight when a trail leaves to the right
[  6.10]  Indian Spring on right
[  7.00]  Keep straight when trail comes in from right - make note of trail going steeply down to the left to a lower level trail - this is the bypass for the rock ledge portion
[  7.10]  Having taken bypass trail, at bottom of rock ledge at cave, trail goes up steeply to the left to rejoin the Switchback Trail, or continue on the lower trail which meets back up with the Switchback Trail more gradually in .15 mile
[  7.25]  Lower trail comes in from the left to meet back up with Switchback Trail
[  9.05]  Keep straight when trail goes straight down to the left (this can be used to shorten hike by      about 1 mile - turn left here and at bottom at yellow posts, turn left and continue from  [10.25])
[  9.60]  Make a sharp left turn at Five Mile Tree Crossover at bench
[10.25]  Trail comes in from the left (if used as shortcut, this is where it meets back up with the Switchback Trail)
[10.50]  Cross paved road diagonally to park entrance, continue left on Switchback Trail
[10.80]  At intersection where Switchback Trail continues straight, turn right towards lake
[11.00]  Back at parking lot

D&R Canal State Park, NJ - South Bound Brook to Zarephath

ABOUT THE PARK:
Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 40.558556, -74.530754

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Large parking lot in South Bound Brook at Canal Park

TRAIL MAP:
D&R Canal State Park Map

HIKE DISTANCE:
6 miles total out and back (3 miles each way)

THE HIKE:

Grated bridge from parking lot to towpath.

Towpath between the canal and the Raritan River

Spillway

A little bit of fall foliage hanging on.

Turn around point at 3 miles.

Sunning on a chilly day.

Almost ran right into this guy standing on the side of the trail.

His wingspan was as wide as the towpath.

Back under I-287.

  
HIKE SUMMARY:
[  0.00]  Cross grated footbridge from parking lot over canal, turn left on towpath
[  0.35]  Towpath descends down at spillway and back up
[  0.70]  28 mile marker
[  0.80]  Go under I-287
[  2.10]  Bridge on left
[  2.20]  Dam/waterfalls on right
[  2.40]  Lock with interpretive sign
[  2.70]  26 mile marker
[  3.00]  Zaraphath/Pillar of Fire; retrace

Appalachian Trail, PA - Pulpit Rock and the Pinnacle

ABOUT THE PARK:
The BMECC Section of The Appalachian Trail - Blue Mountain Eagle Climbing Club

DIRECTIONS:
GPS coordinates to Reservoir Road Parking
40.583229, -75.941910

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The parking lot at 7:00 AM

The parking lot at 1:00 PM - there is an additional huge lot off to the right and cars were parked all along both sides of Reservoir Road.  This is only one of several parking lots which can be used to access the Pinnacle.This is a VERY popular hike so best to get there very early.

TRAIL MAP:
PA Appalachian Trail Map Sec. 1-6: Delaware Water Gap to Swatara Gap - Keystone Trails Association
Hiking Near the Pinnacle - Berks County, PA

HIKE DISTANCE:
9.35 miles
This site gives options for hikes of various lengths from different parking locations.

APPALACHIAN TRAIL SECTION HIKING:
TrailHeadFinder.com - AT section miles 1208.3 to 1214.9

THE HIKE:

The hikes starts on the gravel road beyond the yellow gates.

The gravel road is blazed blue.

A bridge over Furnace Creek just after turning right on the white-blazed Appalachian Trail at the site of the Windsor Furnace.

The AT starts out nice and smooth...

... but it just wouldn't be the AT in PA without some rocks thrown in.

The rocks bring you up to...

... an observatory on the left and

Pulpit Rock on the right.

Coming up on Pulpit Rock.

It was a gorgeous sunny day but fog obstructed the views in the valley below.

Over some more rocks and along the ridge ...

... to a blue side trail at the largest cairn you have probably ever seen.

Still lots of fog down in the valley at the Pinnacle.

I had the Pinnacle all to myself since I started so early.

Picture from a clear day when I hiked to the Pinnacle from Eckville on November 8, 2009.

The AT then continues on as a woods road with droves of people coming up to the Pinnacle as I was leaving.

At a clearing known as the helipad, a blue trail leaves to the left for the 8.7 mile hike but we kept going on the AT to make the hike longer.

Another blue-blazed trail leaves to the left as the AT makes a right turn...

... and it is a very pleasant grassy woods road where we only ran into two other hikers.  This is not a route used by the masses to get to the Pinnacle so it is a much quieter way to return to the parking lot.

This blue-blazed woods road leads down to Hamburg Reservoir...

Where I was mobbed by ladybugs!  They were everywhere and all coming at me.

The dam at Hamburg Reservoir.

A gravel road leads from the reservoir to the AT briefly, then to the blue-blazed gravel road back to the parking lot with yet more people heading to the Pinnacle.

One ladybug rode all the way back to the parking lot on my backpack.

HIKE SUMMARY:
[  0.00]  Walk beyond yellow gate at the large map and continue on blue-blazed gravel road
[  0.40]  At intersection turn right on white-blazed Appalachian Trail, cross bridge, after bridge keep right on AT when gravel road goes left
[  0.65]  Rock hop over small creek
[  0.70]  Right on AT when blue side trail goes left to shelter
[  1.70]  Keep straight on AT when blue trail goes right to Blue Rocks Campground
[  2.05]  AT leaves woods road to the right and becomes rocky
[  2.30]  Observatory on left, Pulpit Rock on right
[  2.45]  Communications tower on left
[  2.75]  Keep straight on AT when red trail goes left
[  4.20]  Keep straight when yellow trail goes right to Blue Rocks Campground
[  4.50]  At giant cairn, turn right on blue trail to Pinnacle Overlook where AT turns sharply left; from overlook retract and keep right to resume on AT
[  6.10]  Keep straight on AT through helipad clearing when blue trail goes left
[  6.40]  Gold Spring
[  7.00]  Turn left on blue-blazed woods road when the AT turns right
[  7.45]  Keep straight when trail crosses over with Stephanie Spring on right
[  8.35]  Turn left at the reservoir and loop around
[  8.55]  At opposite corner of reservoir, turn right and continue around when blue trail comes in from the left
[  8.70]  Keep straight through yellow gate leaving reservoir
[  8.80]  Keep straight on gravel road when another gravel road comes in from the left
[  8.85]  Turn right on AT, cross bridge, then turn left on blue gravel road
[  9.35]  Back at parking lot