Page Content Revised November 25, 2006 -- Resource Links Updated October 29, 2003

Location, History, and General Information

The Loyalsock Trail is located in the Endless Mountains region of north central Pennsylvania, northeast of Williamsport. Detailed information about the Loyalsock Trail is found in the trail guide, available from The Alpine Club of Williamsport , P.O. Box 501, Williamsport, PA 17703. Information in the next paragraph is taken from this reference source.

The Loyalsock Trail, LT, is a 59.21 mile footpath which begins on PA Route 87, 9.0 miles north of the Route 87-Montoursville Exit from Interstate 180 (US Route 220), and ends at the parking lot on Mead Road, 0.2 miles from US Route 220.  Entrance to Mead Road is 2.4 miles north of the intersection of Routes 220 and 154 near Laporte. The extremes of elevation are 665' to 2140'. The LT was laid out in the early 1950s by an Explorer Scout Post from Williamsport, Pennsylvania, led by Howard Ulman, Jr. In 1953, the Alpine Club of Williamsport was organized to maintain the original 30.7 miles of trail. Both ends of the LT were extended to their present locations in 1960 and 1962 and additional relocations  were made in  1973, 1975, 1983, 1984, 1994, and 1999.  The LT is blazed with metal discs (can lids) that are painted red with the yellow letters "LT" in the center.  The LT has also been marked with 2" by 6" rectangular yellow paint blazes with a 1" horizontal red stripe. There are three different types of side trails used in the LT system. Red X Trails form alternate routes and bypasses.  The trail marker is a yellow disc with a large red X.

Various side trail changes were made to the Loyalsock Trail System during 2004 and 2005.  We have updated our pages to reflect the new designations in nearly all cases.  Where the old designations are mentioned, we have noted that these have since been changed.  For further details, please refer to a recent edition of the LT trail guide or the heading "Upcoming Changes to LT During 2004 And 2005" on the Alpine Club "Trail Alerts" page.

Our Hiking Experiences

Aimee first read about the LT in a Pennsylvania tourism brochure that she ordered in 1991 when we knew we were going to move from Wisconsin to Pennsylvania. We noticed the LT was similar in elevation to the trails we were used to hiking in the Porcupine Mountains of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. After moving to Pennsylvania, we hiked our first segment of the LT, from mile 43.27 to 46.11, on Memorial Day weekend of 1992. This segment included Canyon Vista in World's End State Park .  Through a series of day hikes mainly from 1994 to 1996, interrupted by the birth of our daughter Maria in July, 1995, we eventually completed the entire trail. We did not hike segments in a particular direction or order, so our last segment was completed when we reached the Red X trail RX-4 in a westbound direction since we had previously reached there going eastbound. Mike insisted on taking Maria on the segments he and Aimee had already hiked before Maria was conceived, so that Maria was able to complete the entire trail on May 24, 1997, before her 2nd birthday.  After Maria was old enough to hike on her own two feet, she and Mike began rehiking the trail.  Maria completed her last segment when she reached the Red X junction at mile 7.28 on October 8, 2006 -- at the age of eleven. The links below describe our experiences along each of eighteen segments we hiked to complete the trail. The segments are listed in geographical order, not in the order we hiked them. Links to additional LT resources are included at the end.

Mike and Maria celebrating completion of the LT on November 17, 1996, at the junction with Red X trail RX-4, LT mile marker 13.53. There was no snow where we began at elevation 1400', but about 3" at this point, elevation 2030'. Mike and Maria at Rode Falls, mile 35.17, April 5, 1997. This was one of the segments Mike and Aimee originally hiked before Maria was born. A 16 foot ladder (not in photo) is used to ascend and descend the trail at the falls.