Pymatuning State Park: Sugar Run Trail (Blog Hike #779)

Trail: Sugar Run Trail

Hike Location: Pymatuning State Park

Geographic Location: north of Jamestown, PA (41.49820, -80.45889)
Length: 1.1 miles

Difficulty: 1/10 (Easy)

Date Hiked: October 2019

Overview: A short, nearly flat loop below Pymatuning Dam.

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

Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=943549

Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: From Jamestown, take US 322 west 2.2 miles to the signed entrance for Pymatuning State Park on the right.  Turn right to enter the park, then immediately turn right again to head for the dam.  After driving across the dam, turn right on the access road for picnic shelter #1.  Park in the parking lot near picnic shelter #1.

The hike: Straddling the Ohio/Pennsylvania state line, 17,088 acre Pymatuning Reservoir is the largest man-made lake in either Pennsylvania or Ohio (of course, Lake Erie is the largest lake period in either of those states).  The lake was formed in 1934 when the Pymatuning Dam was built on Pennsylvania’s Shenango River, and the dam’s old-school stone construction makes it an interesting roadside attraction on your drive to or from the trailhead.  Because the submerged land is former swampland with little relief, Pymatuning Reservoir is long but shallow: the lake’s maximum depth is only 35 feet.

Interesting Pymatuning Dam

            Two state parks lie on the shore of Pymatuning Reservoir.  To make matters confusing, both of these parks bare the name Pymatuning State Park, but one is owned by the State of Ohio while the other is owned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  Pennsylvania’s version of Pymatuning State Park has the better hiking opportunities, and that is the one featured in this blog entry.  While not the longest hike in either Pymatuning State Park, the Sugar Run Trail described here offers a well-marked and well-maintained course near the dam area, so it lets you see the interesting dam while also letting you experience the park’s natural environment.

Bridge across Shenango River

            From the parking area, reach the Sugar Run Trail by walking across the iron bridge with wooden deck that spans the Shenango River.  The river flows wide and shallow here as its waters slowly make their way southward toward the Ohio River.  Vegetation crowds the river downstream, while upstream the dam area’s wooden fishing deck and stone dam structures are in view.

View down Shenango River

View of fishing and dam area

            At the south end of the bridge, you reach the Sugar Run Trail, which goes left and right to form its loop.  To get to the dam sooner, I chose to turn right here and hike the loop counterclockwise.  Marked with blue rectangular paint blazes, the Sugar Run Trail heads west paralleling first the Shenango River and then Sugar Run on the right.  The forest is a nice mixture of maple, oak, and hickory trees, and the leaves were just starting to change color when I hiked here in mid-October.

Pymatuning Dam spillway

Ripple in Sugar Run

            Near 0.4 miles, Pymatuning Dam’s stone and concrete spillway comes into view across the creek just before you pass a small cascade in Sugar Run.  Just past this point, the trail forks.  The main loop turns left here to head up a small but steep hill, while a spur trail continues to follow Sugar Run; the spur leads to an alternate trailhead on US 322.  A bridge used to cross Sugar Run and allow access to the picnic areas above the dam, but that bridge was out on my visit.

Hiking the Sugar Run Trail

            Continuing around the main loop, the single-track dirt trail heads through dense broadleaf forest with the park boundary close on the right.  A flat easy cruise brings you back to the bank of the Shenango River, where the trail curves left to once-again start following the river.  A little more riverside hiking returns you to the Shenango River bridge you crossed at this hike’s outset, thus completing the hike.  Before you leave, be sure to check out the interesting stone dam and admire the stark yet elegant construction.