There has been quite a bit written over the years about the awesome bike riding in and around Sinnemahoning State Park up in Cameron County, PA and for good reason. This isn’t exactly God’s Country but it is darn close both literally and figuratively. Cyclists of all age and ability levels would enjoy the scenery and the smooth trails. What this particular ride lacks in rugged single-track it more than makes up with sheer beauty. Throw in the chance to see a wild turkey, bald eagle, an elk or a bear and you have yourself some real Pennsylvania Wilds.
Sinnemahoning State Park is centered around the reservoir that is formed from the Stevenson Dam. The First Fork starts up in Potter County (that is indeed God’s Country) and runs south into the park. Below the Stevenson Dam the First Fork continues on its way as a quality trout water (until summer at least) and at Jericho, approximately 10 miles below the dam, connects with the West Branch of the Susquehanna. During the spring months trout anglers and turkey hunters invade this area en masse. Fishing camps both small and simple and huge and elaborate dot the landscape. Generations of families have called this their little slice of heaven since just after the turn of the last century. The trout and bass fight hard and taste especially good. These are generally stocked trout but there are most certainly hold over fish and occasionally some real lunkers will get pulled out of here.
My particular ride started just inside the park on the northern entrance. This is the Forty Maples Area of the park. I found a nice pull off on the side of the road just south of the Bent Tree. It became a great base area for the day. There is minimal and sporadic traffic along this road and it is partly shaded. While it isn’t any kind of official place to park your buggy a vehicle here and there along this road is a relatively common sight.
Just prior to my ride I managed a nice hike as well. As this is water country I took the hike in chest waders. Look for a future review of the Cabelas Dry Plus Stockingfoot Chest Waders that I have abused for the past 5 or 6 seasons. The boots I have are unfortunately way better suited for fishing than for hiking but I look to purchase a new boot sometime soon. Needless to say that after this two hour hike across open meadows and slippery streams and up and down some steep but short hills through the woods my ankles were feeling a bit on the sore side.
But I only get to ride my bike in this area once a year, if I’m lucky, so I wasn’t going to let anything short of a busted femur spoil my afternoon. As I rode south toward the lake I realized what perfect conditions I had. This meshed perfectly with the mental state I was in. I realized I was as close to being content and relaxed as you could ever hope to be. The previous day I landed three trout in three hours including two on the fly rod. There were those in camp and along the First Fork who had fished hard and gotten nothing. Owners of some of the camps up there said they had seen the fewest fish in 30 or 40 years, yet I had managed a fish an hour and that didn’t include the several I’d missed and that got off at the net. I’ll take that kind of action any day.
My legs felt fantastic as I kept a nice cadence along the smooth road. The hardest part of taking a ride in this area is that I continuously found myself having to stop to take photographs. Sinnemahoning most certainly is one of the prettiest natural areas of the state. As I made my way to the lake I pedaled past a large group of bird watchers. There is a nice population of bald eagles that nest in the area in addition to various other water birds including ospreys, herons, mergansers and kingfishers. With a quality camera and telephoto lenses and a little bit of patience you could most certainly capture some really nice avian images.
I continued on along the lake and figured that I would make my way to the Stevenson Dam that I could see off in the distance. There wasn’t much space but I did manage to pick and choose my way along the shore. Most of the people fishing along the shore hadn’t managed any fish but considering the beautiful day and setting, I saw plenty of smiles as I excused myself when I pedaled around them.
Eventually I got to a point where I had to get off the bike. Any kind of walking path along the shore was gone. I pushed and carried the bike as well as I could. I continued on toward the dam and then an old abandoned trail seemed to appear. This area was totally unrideable as it was nothing more than a bunch of soggy blow down detritus. It’s always a bit extra thrilling to get to an area that is missed by 97% of the general public. I was straddling the area frequented by fishermen on the one side and US Army Corp of Engineer employees on the other.
As I broke out on to the dam area the sun was blinding. I stopped for a few pictures of the lake. I really dug how the trashboom just swung out across the water and went up into the woods. Fishermen in boats looked up at me on the hill as they probably weren’t too used to seeing people look down at them from where I stood. I took more than a couple of photos.
I took the smooth blacktop of Rt. 871 to Brooks Run and started up the hill. By the time I got under the shade I realized that the perfect remedy for my aching feet was a nice soak of the toes in a cold mountain stream. I made my way out to a nice little perch in the middle of Brooks Run, removed my shoes and socks and dunked my feet in to the icy cold water. The warm sun poked through the shade trees and warmed parts of my body that were touched by the rays. A quality beer at that instant would have completed the moment but that would be greedy.
One of the guys from my fishing group showed up and tried his luck in the tiny holes of Brooks Run. I snapped a few photos of him and then put my shoes and socks back on and jumped on the bike. I wasn’t sure how far I’d make it but I wanted to give it a good effort. The climb up Brooks Run wasn’t terribly steep (compared to Upper Jerry) but it was taxing after a bit. With every revolution of the crank I could feel my ankles tweaking just a bit here and there. The hike from earlier in the afternoon was coming back to haunt me. I decided to turn around at the Joe King Trail.
As I pedaled down the dirt road I picked up speed. I just hoped no cars would be coming the other way at the critical sections around the bends and at the bridge. All clear. I sailed down at a fast but controllable pace. It’s a good feeling to really work your legs when you’re going down ahill. The last little bit of excitement came at the bottom down by the lake. The hill is a bit steep at the bottom and I hit a nice rate of speed considering it was through a parking lot. When I hit the bridge area that was under construction I was probably doing about 35. I lifted up just as I rode off the lip and took a nice low trajectory flight across the bridge.
After that it was just a nice steady crank back to the Pilot. 17 miles of gorgeous scenery and perfect weather. I’ll take that anytime. While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this exact ride there are certainly highlights in this area that should most definitely be explored. Give Sinnemahoning a try. Bring your fishing rod and your trout skills. Bring your mountain bike. Bring your camera. Enjoy.
