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4 triplogs
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Jul 03 2025
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 Guides 27
 Routes 669
 Photos 12,096
 Triplogs 856

56 male
 Joined Jul 05 2006
 Mesa, AZ
Twin Lakes TrailNorth Allegheny, PA
Twin Lakes Trail
North Allegheny, PA
Hiking avatar Jul 03 2025
DarthStiller • Triplogs 856
Hiking6.45 Miles 599 AEG
Hiking6.45 Miles   4 Hrs   13 Mns   1.65 mph
599 ft AEG      19 Mns Break
 
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
Route Scout Route Recorded  on Route Scout | Pop | Map | Popup | MapDEX
Drove back to where I left off the day before and continued westbound on the trail. I planned on going in over 5.5 miles, but had to stop at 3 miles in due to a damaged creek crossing.

The trail starts off along a dirt road with a very small pullout to park at. It continues as another narrow dirt road into the shady woods. It's pretty easy going at first, downhill and mostly clear of vegetation. After a mile, it narrows to a single track and starts the ups and downs. There are 2 overgrown areas in the sunlight then a shady level area in the pines that crossed Wolf Run.

After that, the trail gets closer to Tionesta Creek and stays in the sun. It also gets massively overgrown with shoulder to eyebrow height vegetation. The markers let me know that I was actually on the trail, but it didn't make any difference whether I was on it or now. It was at this point that I noticed I was off the track I made but still on the trail track in Route Scout. At some point the trail was supposed to cross the creek, which was a few feet deep. I finally found the makeshift bridge, but it was partially under water. I stepped on it with one foot to test it out and it was very slick and impassable. From there it was easy to call it a day and head back.

I stopped nearby in a shady area by the creek and had an early lunch. There were 2 large fallen pines across the creek which made a crossing more a possibility here. I contemplated it briefly but decided against it. The trail was very hard to follow at this point and looked like it stayed along the creek for the rest of what I intended to hike that day.

Once I finished lunch, 3 rivers otters surfaced from under the pines. It took a minute for them to spot me, and then they were spooked. They made several grunting noises at me, which seemed similar to a small dog barking. One swam under a mat of floating stick and stuck its head up out of the water at me, grunted, and then took off. Kind of cool to see some rarely seen wildlife like this.

Got back to the car fully soaked from sweat and overgrown wet vegetation. There is still another 6 miles of this trail that I haven't hiked, at which point it junctions with the North Country Trail, which goes thru PA and a few others nearby states. It appears that the western end of this trail isn't maintained very well, so I don't think I'll be very motivated to try to complete this soon, at least not in the summer when the forest is overgrown.
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Jul 02 2025
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 Guides 27
 Routes 669
 Photos 12,096
 Triplogs 856

56 male
 Joined Jul 05 2006
 Mesa, AZ
Twin Lakes TrailNorth Allegheny, PA
Twin Lakes Trail
North Allegheny, PA
Hiking avatar Jul 02 2025
DarthStiller • Triplogs 856
Hiking12.02 Miles 1,357 AEG
Hiking12.02 Miles   6 Hrs   59 Mns   1.82 mph
1,357 ft AEG      22 Mns Break
 
Linked   none no linked trail guides
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Route Scout Route Recorded  on Route Scout | Pop | Map | Popup | MapDEX
Continued some section hiking on the Twin Lakes Trail, not far from my camp. There is a small parking area just off Route 66 in northern PA that I started from. I hiked eastbound to where Dmitri and I left off 3 years ago in the fall, then headed back. The trail starts up a hill immediately, then goes downhill and gets very hard to follow in an overgrown section near Wolf Run. It then ascends some and levels out. It gets hard to follow again in one spot past a gas line crossing.

After I got back to the car, I ate lunch and then headed westbound to the next parking area, 3.5 miles away. Westbound the trail again does another big ascent and continues on ups and downs throughout the forest. The trails here are remote and overgrown with many recent rains. It was almost constant knee to waist high grass and vegetation, which resulted in my feet being soaked when I was done. Coming back on the western section I did, I saw a married couple with a young black lab that was started to see another person out in the middle of nowhere. They appeared to be volunteers for the game commission and were setting out game cameras.

Temperature was much cooler that in Phoenix, but also pretty humid. My shirt was soaked by the time I was done, but also didn't need much water. No wildlife seen.
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Oct 05 2022
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 Guides 27
 Routes 669
 Photos 12,096
 Triplogs 856

56 male
 Joined Jul 05 2006
 Mesa, AZ
Twin Lakes TrailNorth Allegheny, PA
Twin Lakes Trail
North Allegheny, PA
Hiking avatar Oct 05 2022
DarthStiller • Triplogs 856
Hiking8.03 Miles 642 AEG
Hiking8.03 Miles   3 Hrs   41 Mns   2.18 mph
642 ft AEG
 
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Mill Creek Trail
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2nd hike of the trip to camp. 7 years ago we went up to the Twin Lakes area looking for this trail and couldn't find it. This time I made a track from Route Editor and found it. the hike started on the Black Cherry loop, which then connects to the Twin Lakes Trail. Twin Lakes is 16 miles one way and it doesn't appear that there are any trailheads along the way in the middle. We took Twin Lakes to its junction with the Mill Creek Trail, which I had hiked most of this past July. We hiked to my turnaround point from July, then then hiked another section of Twin Lakes to the west until it reached a road. I was hoping for an area I could park one day, but had no luck.

the start of the hike was in heavy pines, so it was so dark that i needed a flash to get a decent picture, even at 10am on a clear day. the Mill Creek Trail and western part of the Twin Peaks trail had the most color, which looked much nicer since it was lit up by the clear skies and sun.

The beginning of the Twin Peaks trail isn't marked all that well. It crosses some old dirt roads and the junctions are very easy to miss, which we did. fortunately on the way back I figured it out and ended up hiking the entirety of the actual trail along that segment. that wasn't bad since it made the hike out and back less monotonous. Once we got back to the Black Cherry Loop, we hiked the rest of that loop and took the road back to the car.

Dmitri said his legs were getting sore at the end since by that point he had done 15 miles in 2 days, but he made it through and did well. He had the old man walk for a bit getting out of the car, but was fine the next day. Nice to get a real fall hike in, complete with lots of color and chilly temps.
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Jul 23 2013
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 Guides 27
 Routes 669
 Photos 12,096
 Triplogs 856

56 male
 Joined Jul 05 2006
 Mesa, AZ
Twin Lakes TrailNorth Allegheny, PA
Twin Lakes Trail
North Allegheny, PA
Hiking avatar Jul 23 2013
DarthStiller • Triplogs 856
Hiking1.00 Miles
Hiking1.00 Miles
 
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
This trail isn't actually the official Twin Lakes Trail which cuts across the ANF, but it is in the Twin Lakes Recreational area, where that trail begins, and it circles the actual Twin Lakes, so it's close enough.

During our PA vacation, we made a side trip up to Toronto to see the CN Tower and on our way back, Niagara Falls. From the Falls, we cut through Buffalo, down thru NY and into northern PA, towards Ridgway, near the deer hunting camp that my family owns. It's not in the greatest shape, but it's free and in a much cooler climate than AZ is right now.

On our first full day, we woke up and took a ride up to the Kinzua Bridge, an old decommissioned train trestle that was severely damaged in a storm in July 2003. After we saw that, we made our way thru some back roads to some trails nearby that I spotted on some online maps. I wanted to make our way to the Brush Hollow TH, but the road we took ended up dead ending in the Twin Lakes area. So, we decided to stop and do a quick loop around the lake to get out of the car, seeing as we had driven over 1000 miles within the previous week.

It was nothing special, being more of a camping and picnic area, but it was a good start to warm up for our bigger hike later on.
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average hiking speed 1.88 mph

WARNING! Hiking and outdoor related sports can be dangerous. Be responsible and prepare for the trip. Study the area you are entering and plan accordingly. Dress for the current and unexpected weather changes. Take plenty of water. Never go alone. Make an itinerary with your plan(s), route(s), destination(s) and expected return time. Give your itinerary to trusted family and/or friends.

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