Colton Point State Park: Rim Trail (Blog Hike #436)

Trail: Rim Trail

Hike Location: Colton Point State Park

Geographic Location: southwest of Mansfield, PA (41.69990, -77.46359)

Length: 1.5 miles

Difficulty: 4/10 (Moderate)

Date Hiked: July 2013

Overview: A loop hike linking overlooks of the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania.

Park Information: https://www.dcnr.pa.gov/StateParks/FindAPark/ColtonPointStatePark/Pages/default.aspx

Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=943554
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: From Mansfield, drive west on US 6 for 23.6 miles to Colton Road, passing through the town of Wellsboro en route.  Turn left on Colton Road.  Drive narrow, winding, but paved Colton Rd. 4.9 miles to the paved one way loop road that accesses the overlooks.  Drive the loop road 0.1 miles to a perpendicular parking area on the right.  This parking area serves one of the overlooks and the trailhead for this hike.

The hike: Everywhere seems to have a gorge called the “grand canyon.”  Of course there is THE Grand Canyon in Arizona.  The Genesee River gorge at Letchworth State Park in New York is called the Grand Canyon of the East.  The Russell Fork gorge at Breaks Interstate Park on the Kentucky/Virginia border is called the Grand Canyon of the South, but Little River Canyon and Walls of Jericho, both in Alabama, also claim that title.  For better or worse, Pine Creek Gorge in north-central Pennsylvania has earned the title “Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania.”

            While most of this nomenclature was established to drive tourism, Pine Creek Gorge is pretty grand.  The north-south gorge extends for 47 miles; it measures up to 1450 feet deep and nearly 1 mile wide.  Unlike the Finger Lakes of New York to the north, Pine Creek Gorge was not glacier-created but rather glacier-altered.  Glaciers not only scoured and deepened the gorge, but an ice dam reversed Pine Creek from its pre-ice age north-flowing course to its present-day south-flowing course.

Visitors view the canyon today by visiting one of the state parks located on the rim.  Leonard Harrison State Park lies on the east rim, while more rustic Colton Point State Park lies on the west rim.  The west rim has slightly better hiking opportunities, so I chose to visit Colton Point State Park.  Colton Point is named for Henry Colton, an area lumberman who floated logs from this area down Pine Creek to Williamsport, thus helping make Williamsport the lumber capital of the world in the 1880’s.

Colton Point State Park boasts two hiking trails.  The 1.5 mile one-way Turkey Path Trail takes visitors on a steep journey to the bottom of the gorge.  The other option and the one described here is the 1.5 mile Rim Trail, which connects the various overlooks on the rim.  Do not confuse the Rim Trail with the much longer West Rim Trail in adjacent Tioga State Forest, which is not described in this blog.  Also, although the park brochure lists the Rim Trail at only 1 mile, the distance I have given here is more accurate based on my measurements.

Stile at trailhead

From the parking area, walk through the wooden stile and out the gravel trail to the first canyon overlook.  This overlook is located in the middle of a long straight stretch of gorge, so the only real view from here is directly across the gorge.  The Rim Trail goes right and left from this overlook.  This trail description turns right (as you look toward the gorge) to hike the Rim Trail clockwise.

First gorge overlook

              The single-track dirt trail descends moderately through dense mountain laurel.  The underbrush prevents any views of the gorge, and leaving the trail to look for the rim is dangerous because you might accidentally find it by falling over the edge.  At 0.2 miles, the blue-blazed trail curves right as it rounds the tip of Colton Point.  A dangerous wild trail treads directly on the edge of the rim, but it yields no better views than the official trail.

Descending on the Rim Trail

Now heading northwest, the trail climbs gradually with the Right Branch of Fourmile Run now downhill to the left.  0.5 miles into the hike, you intersect Turkey Path as it exits left and heads steeply downhill into the gorge.  The Rim Trail and Turkey Path share a common treadway for a couple hundred feet before the Rim Trail turns left to continue its and our northward journey.  Both of these intersections are signed, but the blue blazes give added reassurance.

More remote section of Rim Trail

The trail becomes wetter with more roots to trip you as it continues north, and the blue blazes become less frequent.  The ravine to your left gains elevation, and soon gravel Colton Road comes into view through the trees to your left.  Just when you think you might have lost the trail, the blue blazes reappear and take a sudden right turn.  The trail now climbs moderately to cross the paved park entrance road.  A parking area here provides an alternate starting point for this hike.

Gorge overlook

Now on the east side of the park road, the trail curves right and soon arrives at another gorge overlook.  This overlook is less developed than the others, and it sits in a nice grove of pines.  Past the overlook, the trail joins a gravel road for nearly 0.3 miles before exiting through another wooden turnstile like the one at the trailhead.

My favorite gorge overlook

Just shy of 1.4 miles, you reach my favorite gorge overlook in the park.  This overlook sits on a bend in the river, allowing you to peer up to the northern end of the gorge.  The trail you see in the gorge is the 62 mile Pine Creek Trail, a Rails-to-Trails project that runs the entire length of the gorge and beyond.  The last segment of the Rim Trail threads its way between the gorge on the left and the park’s picnic area on the right.  Soon you arrive back at your first gorge overlook where your car is parked, thus completing the hike.