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Re: YouTube series about trails in the area.

I dug up this old posting from this forum about 10 years ago and updated it a bit.

I can’t describe every trail. Part of the fun is discovering them. I am going to list a few places you can park you car and head off to explore trails.

My favorite places are the Rails-to-Trails routes.

The Back Mountain Trail gets the most action. It starts behind the Knights of Columbus in Luzerne and goes almost to Dallas. You can access it from Shavertown or Carverton Road.

I like the Susquehanna Warrior Trail which follows the Susquehanna from Riverlands Park (at the nuclear plant) all the way to Canal Park in West Nanticoke, with quite a few access points such as Shickshinny, the Hunlock Creek Drive In and the Union township boat launch. (Don’t park in the paved area at the boat launch.)

The Mountaintop portion of the Delaware Trail can be accessed off Route 437 past the last house in Mountaintop heading toward White Haven. Off course there is also the Lehigh Gorge trail from White Haven to either Mountaintop or Jim Thorpe. There is also a short stretch of this trail that starts behind the Mountaintop fire station and heads south. You can also head north but it is a much rougher trail.

Most of the other places I like are on Earth Conservancy land, so the sites tend to concentrate in the lower Wyoming Valley, mostly Hanover and Newport Townships,

When you explore, remember to respect private property, especially places posted with “No Trespassing” signs. Most of the non-Earth Conservancy open land in the valley is owned by Theta Land (former water company land) or one of the mining companies. Be respectful of their rules. With the exception of Lake Scranton, stay away from water supply reservoirs. Don’t run along active rail lines.

One of the best places to park is the Earth Conservancy trailhead in Mocanaqua. Turn left after you cross the Shickshinny-Mocanaqua bridge and go to the end of the road. They even have a rest room there open part of the year.

Here are some places to leave your vehicle when you run (in addition to the Earth Conservancy trailhead in Mocanaqua):

Just beyond the cemeteries going out of Glen Lyon on the left side of the road. Cross the road and run back into the woods.

At the entrance to the Earth Conservancy composting site just before Glen Lyon. Cross over the road.

By the police station or in the park in Wanamie. Run to either end of the road.

Earth Conservancy trailhead along Kirmar Parkway in Newport behind the old Regional Equipment Center building between Alden and Wanamie..

At the little leaguer field in the West Nanticoke section of Plymouth Township.

Just beyond the last house in Warrior Run on the way to Witinski Villa, on the right or at the bus turnaround about a quarter mile before that.

At the new soccer fields between Ashley and Sugar Notch.

LCCC parking lot. You can go in several directions from here.

At the end of the Levee on Flat Road in Plymouth. Head north for paved levee or south for rail bed (or west across Route 11 if you like mountain climbing).

Just past the last house in Georgetown on the way up Giant’s Despair.

Coming up 309 from Hanover to Mountaintop, take the first right at the top of the mountain. Go to the end of the paved road. There is an easy route along the rail bed and a difficult one along the power lines.

The township park at the end of Birchwood Hills in Plains.

The end of the road going to Techniglass.

One of my favorite places to park was the housing project at Middle Road and Dundee Road but they just up a “No Parking” sign where I parked. There is a place you can park along Dundee Road that isn’t too bad but is a mess now because of all the construction in the area.

There are a lot more places but these are the easiest to describe.

Be careful, the footing on these trails is poor on the trails that aren’t Rails-to-Trails.


Re: YouTube series about trails in the area.

TW, this is great! Thank you so much for finding that post. I'll definitely look through it and explore some of these trails. This is going to be very, very helpful.

Re: YouTube series about trails in the area.

Let me know if you want me to show you around some of these areas.