Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Directions to the Rattling Creek Trails

Where are we?
The RCST trails are located in PA, approx. 25 miles North of Harrisburg.  If using a GPS, plug in the address 2800 White Oak Road, Halifax, Pennsylvania.  This will get you to the DCNR Buildings just as you enter the forest from the East end.  Camp Muckleratz is about 1/4 west of this address.  There's a sign, "Camp Muckleratz."

From the East, South and South West:
Use major routes to the Harrisburg area and follow Route 322 West to Route 225 North (Halifax Exit). Proceed to Halifax. On Route 225 North in Halifax you will come to a stop sign at a 'T' intersection. Turn right and continue on Route 225 North for 8 miles toward Elizabethville. Turn right onto Quarry Road at the top of the Elizabethville Mountain just before the stone quarry. Quarry Road will bear onto Detrich Road (you have the right of way - no stop). Continue to a split (Y) in the road and bear right onto White Oak (gravel) Road. You will be entering Weiser State Forest. See below to trailheads.

From the West: Use Route 322 East to Route 147 North. Proceed to Halifax. Turn Left onto Route 225 North. On Route 225 North in Halifax you will come to a stop sign at a 'T' intersection. Turn right and continue on Route 225 North for 8 miles toward Elizabethville. Turn right onto Quarry Road at the top of the Elizabethville Mountain just before the stone quarry. Quarry Road will bear onto Detrich Road(you have the right of way- no stop). Continue to a split (Y) in the road and bear right onto White Oak (gravel) Road. You will be entering Weiser State Forest. See below to trailheads.

From the North: Using Interstate 81 South to Route 209 South (Tower City Exit). Proceed on 209 South to Elizabethville. At the light in Elizabethville, turn left continuing on Route 225 South approx. 1 mile to the top of the mountain and turn left onto Quarry Road (immediately after the stone quarry). Quarry Road will bear onto Detrich Road(you have the right of way- no stop). Continue to a split (Y) in the road and bear right onto White Oak (gravel) Road. You will be entering Weiser State Forest. See below to trailheads.

Trailheads:

To start your ride with climbing: Just after entering Weiser State Forest (approx 1/4 mile) you can turn right into the Snowmobile Parking Lot. In the far upper corner of the parking lot you will find the start of Iron Mine Snowmobile Trail. It will intersect with Deep Hollow Snowmobile Trail within a few hundred yards. This is for those that like to climb! These two snowmobile trails, Iron Mine and Deep Hollow take you to the top of the Mountain, 800 ft ascent for 2 miles. One leads to the Hang Glider Launch area and the other leads to the top of the mountain near White Oak Road.

If you don't like climbing that much you can continue on White Oak Road to Minnich Hit Picnic Area. Approx 4 miles after entering Weiser State Forest. Along the way you will pass by Wolf Pond Road (leads out across the top of the mountain to the Hang Glider Launch - approx 2.5 miles), cross over the top of the mountain and down the other side, pass by Lykens (gravel) Road. A left turn onto Lykens Road will lead you to the Eastern end of the RCST trails. From White Oak Road you can access singletrack trail: Matter. Snowmobile trails: Deep Hollow, Schreffler, Matter, Minnich Hit, Grimm, Rim and Luke's. From Wolf Pond Road you can access singletrack trails: Rock's Ridge and Wolf Pond. Snowmobile trails: Iron Mine, Matter, Deep Hollow and Rim.From Lykens (gravel) Road you can access singletrack trails: Preserve Line, Fawn Kill and Doc Smith. Snowmobile trail: Preserve Line.

For the Bash, approx 1/2 mile after entering Weiser State Forest on White Oak Road turn left onto a dirt road marked by the green "Camp Muckleratz" sign. The Weiser State forest maps and the snowmobile maps available through the links below should be enough to get you to the area and onto the double track/snowmobile trails. The single track trails are marked with 4X4 sign posts but may still be hard to find.

State Forest Map
DCNR Snowmobile Trail Map

2 comments:

Josh said...

Is there a trail map available anywhere?

Anonymous said...

https://www.mtbproject.com/trail/86977/rattling-creek-imba-epic