Ravensburg State Park: Raven Trail (Blog Hike #965)

Trail: Raven Trail
Hike Location: Ravensburg State Park
Geographic Location: south of Lock Haven, PA (41.10827, -77.24324)
Length: 1.1 miles
Difficulty: 2/10 (Easy)
Date Hiked: September 2023
Overview: An out-and-back along cascading Rauchtown Creek.
Park Information: https://www.dcnr.pa.gov/StateParks/FindAPark/RavensburgStatePark/Pages/default.aspx
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=947102
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: (coming October 4)

Directions to the trailhead: In central Pennsylvania, take I-80 to SR 880 (exit 192).  Exit and go north on SR 880.  Drive SR 880 north 6 miles to the signed entrance for Ravensburg State Park on the right.  Turn right to enter the park, and park in the small parking lot on the right just after crossing the iron-grate bridge near the park entrance.

The hike: Tucked in the upper reaches of the tight and deep gorge that Rauchtown Creek cuts through Nippenose Mountain, tiny Ravensburg State Park protects 78 heavily forested acres along Rauchtown Creek.  Most experts think this forest was never logged due to the rugged terrain, which made this land a prime candidate for early development as parkland.  The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked here between 1933 and 1942, and they built picnic pavilions, latrines, waterlines, fountains, bridges, trails, and a dam on Rauchtown Creek.  The park is named for the ravens that roost in the surrounding rocky ledges.

            Today this park retains its rustic and rugged character, and the park's only more recently built amenity is its 21-site primitive campground.  Also, the fact that massive Tiadaughton State Forest nearly surrounds the park adds to the park's seclusion.  The Mid-State Trail, a 306-mile backpacking trail that goes north-south across central Pennsylvania, passes through the park and forest.  The hike described here is far less ambitious than the Mid-State Trail, but it spends most of its time along scenic cascading Rauchtown Creek.  Thus, this hike gives you a taste of the scenery that makes this park special without driving up the difficulty.

Start of the Raven Trail

            The Raven Trail crosses the park entrance road just west of the parking area, i.e. between the parking lot and the iron-grate bridge you drove in on, at an unsigned crossing.  The section of the Raven Trail going right leads only a short distance to the park's campground, so you want to turn left to begin hiking the main section of the Raven Trail.  The narrow trail heads south through a lush mixture of pine and deciduous trees.  The orange blazes of the Mid-State Trail and the red blazes of the Raven Trail run conjointly here, and Rauchtown Creek is audible but not visible through the dense forest to the right.

Rauchtown Creek

            After only a few hundred feet, the trail crosses Rauchtown Creek on a nice wooden footbridge for the first of three times.  Soon a picnic shelter along SR 880 comes into view on the right.  The Mid-State and Raven Trails part ways here.  Angle left to follow the Raven Trail's red blazes, and soon cross back over Rauchtown Creek on another footbridge.

Footbridge over Rauchtown Creek

            The rest of the trail stays in the narrow strip of woods between the creek on the right and the park's developed area on the left.  As secluded as this park is, I was surprised by the amount of truck traffic I could here on narrow and winding SR 880 across the creek to the right.  The traffic noise did not seem to bother the 2 families I passed while hiking here on a pleasant Monday afternoon in mid-September.

Dam and picnic area of Rauchtown Creek

            At 0.5 miles, you reach the final wooden footbridge over Rauchtown Creek just before coming to the CCC-built stone dam.  Although there are no perceptible grades on this hike, this dam sits about 80 feet higher in elevation than the trailhead.  The water cascading over the dam makes pleasant sights and sounds, and the picnic area with large pine trees across the pond makes a truly bucolic setting.  When you are ready, retrace your steps back downstream to the parking area to complete the hike.  Adding spurs of the Mid-State Trail that climb the steep gorge walls to your journey back would increase both the length and difficulty of this hike.