| Location | Williamsport | Trail Type | Point to Point |
| Distance | 59.21 miles | Foot Traffic | Light |
| Difficulty | Strenuous | Elev. Gain | 10,482 feet |
| Recommended For: | Experienced Backpackers |
No one ever asks you to start a story in the middle, and it felt just as strange and unsatisfying to begin my backpacking trip on the Loyalsock Trail at mile 22 — roughly 1/3 of the way through the nearly 60-mile wilderness path. But I was out of vacation days, and that’s the best my hiking partner and I could manage with our schedules, so we made it work.
The Loyalsock Trail is an adventurous trek through rugged mountains in the Loyalsock State Forest. Its difficulty cannot be overstated, with plenty of near-vertical climbs and rocky descents. But the rewards are well worth the challenge — hikers can expect some of the most serene forest, stunning vistas, and beautiful waterfalls the state has to offer.
The summers are brutally hot and humid, but April and early May give you a chance at unobstructed views for miles and miles, and October will deliver some of the area’s most stunning fiery fall foliage.
This Trip Report covers the first of three section hikes. The second section hike is scheduled for mid-October, and afterward, this page and the trail map will be updated with additional details.
Jump to a Section:
- Camping, Water Sources, and Navigating the Loyalsock Trail
- Reading the Blazes
- Day 1: Hiking to Angel Falls & Kettle Creek Vista
- Day 2: High Knob Overlook to Ketchum Run
- Day 3: Rodes Falls to Worlds End State Park
- Directions, Parking, & Shuttle Service for the Loyalsock Trail
- Worlds End State Park & Nearby Trails
Camping, Water Sources, and Navigating the Loyalsock Trail
Primitive camping is permitted when backpacking through the state forest trails so long as you’re not spending more than one night in the same place. However, there are some sections of roads, trails, and natural areas where camping is prohibited. And when you near the boundaries of Worlds End State Park, camping is only allowed in the official campgrounds (best to get a reservation).
There are a ton of established primitive sites along the trail and most are near water, which is in abundance most of the year. We didn’t come across a single dry stretch during our section hikes in late May and mid-October, but I understand that some sources dry up in the heat of summer.
Having the Williamsport Alpine Club’s Trail Guide will help you know which areas are camp-free zones and where you can anticipate water sources. The Trail Guide will walk you through a step-by-step, mile-by-mile account of the trail and what you can expect. It comes with three maps, and between the two resources, you’ll have everything you need to navigate the well-marked trail.
I recommend laminating the maps if you anticipate weather during your trip — they are on a thicker printing paper, but they are still just paper, and they don’t hold up well in rain.
If you’re looking for extra navigation help, of if you’re just a digital fan, the All Trails App has the entire length of the trail available. But batteries die and the app doesn’t describe what you’ll be seeing, so I still recommend the Alpine Club’s Trail Guide.
Reading the Blazes
The Loyalsock Trail’s yellow blazes with a red line have mostly been replaced by yellow discs with the letters “LT” in red. In some cases, the yellow discs contain the mile number.
Don’t mistake the yellow disc with a red “X” for an LT marker — these blazes indict the Link Trail and other alternate routes, including a 30-mile loop known as the Loyalsock Link Loop. (Try saying that three times fast!)
Blue-blazes and discs indicate side trails, which frequently intersect with the LT and lead to nearby points of interest, such as Angel Falls, Smith Knob, and Kettle Creek Vista.
Day 1: Hiking to Angel Falls & Kettle Creek Vista
(Loyalsock Trail Section 4)
We signed our first trail register just off of Brunnersdale Road, at the start of Section 3 in the Alpine Club’s Loyalsock Trail Guide. There were only three people who had recently signed in ahead of us, and we wondered whether we’d run into any of them.
Our hike had officially begun. We headed east into the forest toward our first point of interest — Angel Falls.
The blue-blazed side trail that leads to Angel Falls wasn’t even 2 miles from Brunnerdale Road. It was hard to hear each other over the roar of the falls, so we mostly sat in silence taking in the experience in one of those together-but-alone moments that happen when you’re backpacking with someone.
The trail leading up to Kettle Creek Vista is a lush, green, mesmerizing tunnel in the summer. The trees create a wall of leaves and close you in under a thick canopy. The forest floor is blanketed in soft ferns and dotted with moss-covered downed trees and rocks — green on green on green.
When the trees thinned out and we reached high, flat(ish) ground, we spotted the blue disc indicating we’d reached our next point of interest — Kettle Creek Vista.
We were so excited, we forgot to keep an eye out for snakes. My hiking partner hurdled a timber rattler that had been lazing on the rock cliff that overlooks part of the Kettle Creek Gorge Natural Area. Beneath the canopy of green that stretched below us was 2,600 acres of wilderness accessible only by foot.
We found an established primitive camp site before crossing Kettle Creek to set up camp, cook, and check out the mileage and terrain for the next day. We stayed up long after hiker midnight, gushing about everything we’d seen and excited for what was in store for us in the next section of trail.
Day 2: High Knob Overlook to Ketchum Run
(Loyalsock Trail Sections 4 – 5)
Backpacking is just as much a mental challenge as a physical one. There are those days when you’re in such a great mood that nothing can get you down — not a mile-long detour down the wrong trail, not a downpour that soaks through your gear, or a clever rodent that makes off with your coffee.
Then there are days when nothing can lift you up — when you’re so fixated on the pain of the climb, you lose sight of the vista at the top, or you make one wrong decision that leads to spiraling self-doubt about what you’re even doing out here.
Day 2 of our Loyalsock trip started on a really great high, but along the way, I momentarily slipped into that other mental state. We hit a 3-mile stretch of complete bog. The Loyalsock Trail looked like a washed out horse trail. We bushwhacked, we jumped from downed tree to downed tree, we postponed lunch (never a good idea).
By the time we reached the switchbacks leading up to High Knob Overlook, I was beyond ready for a break and a mental reset. The Guide Book said there were five switchbacks between me and what I wanted most — to take off my boots and heat up some coffee and ramen. So I counted those suckers as I climbed…
One, two.
Head down, focused on putting one foot in front of the other.
Three, four.
One more — so close!
But when I reached the top of that fifth switch and saw another one to climb? Well, I may or may not have had a little hissy fit right there on the side of the mountain.
It was an additional .30 miles from the top of the last switchback to the High Knob Overlook and Day Parking area, but with the switchback incident behind me, coffee and ramen in my belly, and the sprawling view at High Knob Overlook in front of me, I was rejuvenated. The view looks out over seven counties and is nearly impossible to capture in a way that will do it justice.
The bathroom at the overlook was also a welcome sight… it just wasn’t as pretty.
After that very lengthy, very late lunch break, we pressed on at a faster clip. There were approximately 5 miles to cover before we could set up camp for the night, and we were on a mission to make up for lost time.
We quickly came upon Split Rock — the eeriest part of the trail. It was just before dusk and the forest was completely still and quiet. My hiking partner was just ahead, and she must’ve felt unsettled as well because she waited for me to catch up.
We passed through the giant stone boulders together with the feeling like something was watching us from an unseen cave or crevasse high above.
We completed several water crossings — the west and east branches of Ketchum run as well as a small tributary before coming to our camp site for the night.
There were two other hikers who had already staked out their spots near the water — the first two people we’d seen since getting dropped off at Brunnerdale Road. They were gracious enough to share the site with us and we enjoyed a few pleasant conversations while eating dinner. Apparently they were equally annoyed by the boggy trail before High Knob and equally creeped out at Split Rock, which made me feel better about losing control of my emotions twice in one day.
Those of us who had food bags hung them (one of the other hikers had brought a bear canister), and we called it an early night, knowing we’d need all the energy we could get for the last day of our section hike.
Day 3: Rode Falls to Worlds End State Park
(Loyalsock Trail Section 5)
We were all slow to pack up in the morning. I’d woken up around 2 a.m. with a flat sleeping pad and again around 4 a.m. with a serious case of the shivers. The air in the hollow, so close to Ketchum Run, was cold and still and kept me inside my tent for at least two hours before nature called.
We took our time refilling our water stores, enjoying a hot breakfast, and parting ways with our fellow hikers, giving them a chance to get ahead of us so we could all enjoy that alone-in-the-wilderness feeling. But we were motivated to get to what we thought would be the highlight of our trip — Rode Falls.
We reached the ladder in about 1 mile and descended into what can only be described as hiker heaven. The falls were full and rushing steadily, echoing off the stone walls of this forest oasis. Large rocks helped slow the water as it pushed alongside a small campsite on a peninsula made of stone. We couldn’t believe that, had we just pressed on an extra mile the night before, we could’ve woken up to this incredible site. Cest la vie.
Leaving Rode Falls and all this beauty behind was difficult — and not just because of the ascent that followed. We climbed back up to the railroad grade road that had led to the falls and continued our trek toward Lower Alpine View.
We knew the Loyalsock Creek and Route 87 were somewhere below the thick green trees that spread out from the rock cliff, but we couldn’t hear either from such a height.
Less than half a mile and about 300 feet in elevation gain later, we were done cursing these nearly vertical ascents and were enjoying another breath-taking vista at another heavenly camp site at Alpine View.
We stopped here for lunch, soaking in the sun and spreading our things on the logs around the established fire ring to fully dry out from the misty affects of Ketchum Run. If it weren’t for the lack of water, Alpine View would be my favorite place on the Loyalsock Trail.
During our siesta, a day hiker appeared from the opposite direction we had just traveled — an indication that a road was nearby. We checked our maps and weighed our options. The next two intersection would be Coal Mine Road, where the day hiker had parked, and the yellow-blazed Worlds End Trail, a 3.5 mile ski trail leading to Worlds End State Park’s Visitor’s Center.
My GPS had died by this point, so I’m not sure whether the Guide Book’s distance was correct, but it took us quite a while to get down to the Vistor’s Center. At first, we followed a wide road through the woods, into an absolutely stunning pine grove. The terrain along the Loyalsock Trail has been very diverse, but this was like stepping into a totally different world.
The smell was fresh and strong and though this portion of the hike was brief, it left quite the impression. I had mixed feelings about leaving the Loyalsock Trail and jumping on another path, skipping miles I had really been looking forward to. But we were out of time, and I knew we’d be back to cover the rest.
We picked up what looked like another jeep or haul road on the other side of the grove. The grade was easy going, but there had been a ton of damage from the recent hurricane that had touched down in the park just weeks before.
It was clear that maintenance crews had been hard at work to get a path cleared — I’m always appreciative of their work, but they really went above and beyond to get the trail cleared and reopened as quickly as they did.
The trail led us right into the park, where we explored the visitor’s center before hitching a ride with a ranger to our camp site.
Our adventure was complete! Or at least sections 4 & 5 were. We celebrated with hot showers, flush toilets, and dinner by the campfire.
Directions, Parking, & Shuttle Service for the Loyalsock Trail
Primary parking is available at both the Western terminus along Route 87 and the Eastern terminus along U.S. Route 220. Parking is also available at most locations where the trail crosses a state forest road.
For those who intend to thru-hike, you can park your car at one terminus and shuttle to the other (or park a car at either end, if you’re backpacking with a friend). I recommend parking at the eastern terminus, where there is a rather large lot and restroom facilities, and beginning your hike at the western end of the trail. Starting your hike will be painful — the elevation gain here is notorious — but you’ll also have the worst climb of the trip out of the way.
There are several locals who provide shuttle services, but the Alpine Club of Williamsport recommends Hottenstein Bus Service, a family business that has been providing shuttle services on the LT for years. Allie McDonald took the business over for her father, and she and her husband, Patrick, will drop you off at whichever entry point you prefer.
For our first section, we parked at the Family Campground at Worlds End State Park (contact WESP if you’re interested in doing this — don’t just leave your car in one of their parking lots) and had Patrick meet us there and drive us to the Brunnersdale Road intersection. The cost was $80 for me and my hiking partner. Give Hottenstein Bus Service a call and let them know where your pick-up and drop-off points are for a quote and to schedule the day and time you’ll need their service.
Worlds End State Park & Forksville
World’s End State Park is located in the Loyalsock Forest in the crook of the Loyalsock Creek (or crick, if you prefer) in Sullivan County. This region is known as the Endless Mountains and you can choose to either hike or drive to many of the area’s overlooks to enjoy sweeping vistas of the natural areas and waterway below.
The park has tons of camping spaces, cabins, and pavilions that are quite active in both the summer and fall. The concession stand is open from Memorial Day to Labor Day and serves limited refreshments and camping supplies like ice and charcoal. There are shower and restroom facilities and a couple wood sheds where you can purchase firewood bundles for $8 (cash only, inserted into a small box at the front of the shed) — and all proceeds and donations go right back into the park and its amenities.
The visitor’s center has beautiful displays of local flora to help you learn about some of the plants you’ll encounter on the LT and other nearby trails. There’s even a Little Library with free books just off the parking lot. The folks here were extremely helpful when I was planning logistics and figuring out where to leave my car. Don’t hesitate to give them a call or reach out to them on Facebook — they’re very responsive.
Backpackers should register at the Visitor’s Center before starting an overnight hike — there’s a large billboard outside where you can get a signup sheet, and a mail slot at the door where you can leave your information.
If you get tired of the campfire (or freeze-dried backpacker) meals, I highly recommend driving into Forksville, just north of the park on Route 154. Cross the beautiful covered bridge and pull in at the Forksville General Store & Restaurant just over the creek. You’ll find generous breakfast options, cheese steaks, and hoagies that will fuel you up before or after any hiking. The store also carries limited camping items, including firewood.
If you’re interested in other trails, check out ones listed below. There are more detailed summaries on the PA DCNR website, too.
Nearby Trails
- Butternut Trail (2.5 miles, orange blazes) – loop trail leading to Butternut Vista, which looks down over the Loyalsock Valley after a rocky, difficult climb.
- Canyon Vista Trail (4 miles, blue blazes) – loop trail leading to Canyon Vista Overlook. There are restrooms, picnic tables, and a parking lot. The Rock Garden is located not far behind the restroom area.
- Cold Run Trail (0.7 miles, yellow blazes) – this trail can be reached from the Canyon Vista Trail and extends that hike by 0.7 miles through giant boulders and a beech forest.
- Double Run Nature Trail (1.2 miles, green blazes) – loop trail beginning across from the park chapel and leading to several waterfalls and pools.
- High Rock Trail (1 mile, red blazes) – out-and-back trail beginning at the Cabin Bridge and leading to High Rock Vista before descending to PA 154 north of the park entrance. The trail is rocky and difficult.
- Link Trail (7 miles, yellow discs with red X) – loop trail that begins at the Cabin Bridge but can also be easily accessed from the Family Campground. The trail leads to a steep ascent to reach Canyon Vista Overlook and also meanders through Loyalsock State Park, linking up with the LT, and runs alongside the Double Run.
- Loyalsock Trail (one section of the 59.21 mile long trail, yellow discs with red LT letters) – point-to-point trail that least through the mountains and streams of the Loyalsock Forest.
- Loyalsock Link Loop (16.2 miles, yellow discs with red X) – loop trail that combines the Link and portions of the Loyalsock Trail through the Loyalsock Forest near WESP.
- Worlds End Trail (3.25 miles, yellow blazes) – out-and-back trail that begins at the park office and leads to Worlds End Vista, with a view of the WESP beach, after a steep ascent. If combined with the LT, you can create an 11.5 mile loop.
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