Bald Eagle State Park

After my jaunt around State Game Lands 176 just east of State College, I headed into Bald Eagle State Forest to a flat section just south of Coburn, PA.  I thought I'd found a route that followed a river course for an easy 15-mile out and back.  Instead, I had to head back after just over three miles because the trail just didn't work out.  I wasn't too upset.  My legs were sore after yesterday's ride and my stinking cold was getting the better of me.  The views along the river were worth it though

On my return leg I had to veer off the trail to avoid clambering over a fallen tree.  As I hiked the bike back up onto the trail I spotted this 4" long killer snake hiding amongst dead leaves.

Finally back at the end of my short ride which started and ended at the south entrance to the old railway tunnel just south of Coburn, PA.  There are no signs of the old railway ties but you can still see the rough-hewn tunnel walls and how small the whole thing was.  I suspect it won't be long before the elements rid the tunnel of the external brick-work

I drove over to Poe Paddy State Park where my original route would have taken me if I'd been able to make it.  This shot of the small creek rushing down into park reminded me of so many that I'd fished in myself back in Scotland

According to the pamphlet I picked up, Bald Eagle State Forest lies in the ridge and valley region of the Appalachian Mountains.  Tough, weather resistant sandstone makes up the roughly parallel ridges which can reach 2,300 feet.  Softer shale and limestone forms the valleys 800 to 1,200 feet below the ridge-line.

This part of PA was settled in the late 1700s and was the last sanctuary for mountain buffalo in PA.  The large landholdings which make up most of present-day Bald Eagle State Forest were assembled from original land grants given to Revolutionary War soldiers.  They were purchased by major logging and lumbering companies in the late 1880s and 1890s.  Over 120,000 acres were subsequently either sold to the State following extensive logging or were bought at tax sales.  The average price of land at the time was $2.30/acre.