WALKIN’ ON THE RAILROAD

The State of Pennsylvania features a wide variety of rail trails – trails along abandoned railroad beds. This includes several noteworthy trails, including The Schuylkill River Trail (130 miles), the Pine Creek Trail in the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon (63 miles) and The Great Allegheny Passage (209 miles, and part of a continuous trail connecting Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C). They are ideal for biking, walking, and running. Christy and I have used several of them for recreation over the years. When we visit her family in Clearfield, PA, our favorite place to run is on the 10+ mile Clearfield to Grampian Rail Trail. I’ve also biked the Clarion-Little Toby Creek Trail a couple of times. And the proposed rail trail along Clearfield Creek between Dimeling and Madera passes through some surprisingly wild country.

When we visit Christy’s parents, I don’t necessarily restrict myself to rail trails. There is an active railroad near their house that offers a quiet, pleasant place to walk. The railroad connects Clearfield and Phillipsburg, but mainly serves the coal mines in the area. Trains pass through a few times a week, so a certain amount of caution is necessary.

I did a variation on my favorite railroad walk twice during Christmas week. The first time I did a loop from her parent’s house. This required starting with a 15 minute walk along route 322. I didn’t enjoy this very much due to the traffic, sub-freezing temperatures, and vicious wind. Things improved significantly though once I crossed the highway bridge over Clearfield Creek. From there I followed the railroad tracks upstream, high up on the hillside above the creek. Clearfield Creek is a pretty stream that is large enough to be considered a river in most places. The stretch of creek between Madera and its confluence with the Susquehana River features only minimal development. Christy and I canoed it once, and that was one of my all-time favorite paddling trips. While we were canoeing, it was easy to imagine ourselves deep in some vast wilderness.

Early on I startled a large flock of wild turkeys. A bit later I reached a trestle over Clearfield Creek. This requires a bit of caution, as the trestle wouldn’t be a good place to be if a train made a sudden appearance. I’ve learned over the years that you don’t get much warning of an approaching train in this area. Fortunately the trestle is pretty short and doesn’t take long to cross.

Just beyond the trestle is a split in the tracks. The tracks to the right continue upstream to a coal mine before ending just short of highway 153. These tracks used to continue upstream to Dimeling, Faunce, and Madera. Part of this route is now an unofficial rail trail, but some of the route is now overgrown. On my first hike of the week I continued up to the coal mine, which is a bit startling because it is in an otherwise undeveloped area. This stretch of track is my favorite though, with lots of views of the creek. It also passes through several rock cuts, where cliffs line both sides of the tracks. Just before the coal mine there is something of a historical curiosity, too. Apparently there was a derailment some years ago. Two rail cars are resting on their sides, part of the way down the bank between the tracks and the creek. Apparently the railroad decided that they were too much trouble to retrieve.

From the coal mine I doubled back to the junction. I then continued east on the main tracks until I was just above Roaring Run. I followed a pipeline access down to a dirt road, and the road down to a narrow bridge over the creek. Roaring Run was raging thanks to recent heavy rains and snowmelt. It’s a fairly pretty stream, except that the rocks in and along the creek have all been stained orange and red from runoff from the coal mines. The creek is large enough to support fish, but like most in the area, the stream is sterile due to toxic chemicals in the water.

From the bridge I followed the road almost to highway 322. Just before the highway I picked up another old railroad bed. This railroad also connected Clearfield and Phillipsburg once upon a time. Unfortunately it was never developed into a trail. However, some stretches can be walked, including the stretch behind Christy’s parent’s house.

My second railroad walk was on the day after Christmas, in a heavy snowstorm. There were a couple of inches of snow on the ground when I woke that morning. Originally I planned to hike from Faunce back to the house, but abandoned those plans due to the snow. Only back roads lead to Faunce, and I didn’t want to get the car stuck just trying to get to the trailhead. Christy was on her way to the YMCA to swim, so I had her drop me off at the highway 153 bridge over Clearfield Creek. From there I could follow the railroad tracks downstream, and eventually return to the house.

First though, I wanted to explore. The railroad tracks end at highway 153, and the unofficial rail trail begins upstream at Dimeling. In between are a couple of miles of abandoned railroad corridor along Clearfield Creek. Along the way is an old trestle over the creek. I wanted to walk the railroad bed and see the bridge. The entire area is private property, but the old railroad bed may be open to the public. I wasn’t sure about that, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have a look.

I started out walking a road that runs parallel to the old rail bed and the creek. This was much easier than the rail bed, which is heavily overgrown and littered with deadfall. Eventually the road and rail bed diverged. I stuck with the road, as the map showed a spur road leading from it directly to the old trestle. However, that road is actually a driveway, and it was heavily posted with no trespassing signs. I doubled-back past several houses to a barn. From there I cut through a corn field (not posted but obviously private property) to reach the rail bed. Along the way I flushed a whole flock of turkeys.

I followed the rail bed towards the bridge. This was really tedious due to the deadfall and briars. Eventually I gave up on it and followed the edge of the cornfield. I was a bit nervous about this though, as I was in sight of at least one house. Of course, with temperatures in the 20’s and snow falling, there wasn’t anybody else out. I continued on until I reached the previously mentioned driveway. I crossed it to reach the old trestle. The bridge is still in decent shape, and I probably could’ve crossed it. The surface of the bridge is just the old railroad ties though, and they were in pretty rough shape. I satisfied myself with a few photos of the bridge before heading back.

I returned to highway 153 by the same route. From there I followed the railroad tracks downstream along Clearfield Creek. I saw a couple of guys hunting before reaching the coal mine. The mine was a busy place, and it was nice to get that behind me. From there I enjoyed a quiet, peaceful walk down to Clearfield Junction. Then I followed the tracks towards Phillipsburg, as that is the quickest route back to Christy’s parent’s house. The hike back was only interrupted briefly by a passing train.

I made it back shortly after noon. It was nice to get out of the cold and snow and to warm up with a hot cup of coffee.

The next morning Christy and I decided to hike part of the proposed rail trail from Dimeling towards Madera. We drove to the trailhead at the Dimeling bridge over Clearfield Creek. The rail bed starts out by crossing an old trestle over Little Clearfield Creek. The bridge is in sorry shape. Even worse, somebody has blocked it with a bunch of concrete blocks. “No trespassing” is scribbled across the blocks, too. Although some of the proposed trail is walkable, apparently some portions of it aren’t open to the public.

There are several houses in the immediate area, and we didn’t want to antagonize anyone. We decided to drive up to Faunce to see if we could access the trail there. However, we found the steep, winding road down to the creek snow-covered. We didn’t want to risk getting stuck down there, so we abandoned our plans. Instead we drove over to Curwensville and walked the Clearfield to Grampian Rail Trail. That’s less exciting, and rather close to a busy road, but it was better than nothing. The section we walked does cross an impressive bridge over the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, and it also passes a winery. As far as backup plans go, it wasn’t a bad choice.

The next time I’m in the area I’ll give the proposed trail along Clearfield Creek another try. Since starting at Dimeling isn’t currently an option, perhaps I’ll begin at Faunce and hike downstream, or go upstream to Madera. I’d also like to revisit the Snowshoe Trail along Moshannon Creek. That one is owned and maintained by a private club that caters to ATV users. Despite this, it’s a nice trail through a beautiful area. ATV users are required to purchase an annual membership. It’s unclear from the Snow Shoe Rail trail Assocation website (http://www.ssrt.org/) if that also applies to hikers.

Addendum

We returned to Clearfield for Christmas in 2014. I only had part of one day free for hiking. I decided to spend that time exploring Clearfield Creek. This time I drove to Faunce. My intention was to follow the old railroad bed downstream towards Dimeling. I drove the road down to the bridge over Clearfield Creek. There were two dirt roads leading downstream on the near side of the bridge. I pulled in there, but noticed that both were posted with “no trespassing” signs. There was also a gate across the lower road, and a mailbox. This didn’t look encouraging, but the old railroad bed was obvious on the other side of the road, heading upstream. That side was undeveloped, and there were no signs. I pulled off the road and driveway, crossed the road, and headed upstream towards Madera. At first there was a house across the creek from me, but once I left it behind the area was completely undeveloped.

The railroad bed was in pretty good shape the whole way. It obviously gets a lot of use from ATVs. The only problem was that it was very wet and muddy. That made for a tedious walk. The scenery was ok, but not nearly as appealing as areas farther downstream. There were a few highlights. There were many signs of railroad history, including old spikes and ties, telegraph poles, and a couple of concrete mile markers. The creek is wide, placid, and pretty. At one point I passed a deep green swimming hole complete with a pair of rope swings. A bit farther on was a tributary stream. Just up that creek was a campsite in a healthy hemlock grove. I even saw a deer on the far side of the creek at one point.

After 90 minutes I reached a major tributary coming in from the right. The old railroad line split here, with branches going up each creek. There used to be a trestle over the tributary, but there is nothing left of the bridge except the concrete supports. That railroad bed is badly overgrown. The clear trail follows the tributary to a dirt road. From a previous visit, I knew that the dirt road would take me out to the main road leading to Madera. Instead I turned left on the old road. I followed it a short distance to a bridge over the tributary. The bridge is closed to traffic, but I hopped over the barricade and continued. Before long I regained the old railroad bed. In theory I could’ve followed it towards Madera. However, it was pretty overgrown, and I was running out of time. The dirt road heads that way, too. Instead I headed back, following the same route.

In the future I could try to hike the railroad bed downstream from Madera. However, its condition didn’t look promising. The stretch between Faunce and Dimeling appears to be inaccessible due to private property. Future explorations will probably focus on Moshannon Creek, or the developed rail trail leading from Madera towards Smoke Run and beyond.

Back to Pennsylvania

Back to Hiking and Backpacking Trip Reports

Home

Please remember to Leave No Trace!