Heart's Content - Allegheny Nat'l Forest - My "go to" spot

If you live anywhere near northwestern Pennsylvania then I'm sure you are familiar with the Allegheny National Forest. This 513,000 acre forest is a true gem of the Allegheny Plateau. It contains the Allegheny Reservoir and hundreds of miles of streams. It is known for cherry trees, hemlock and a couple stands of "virgin" forest.

One of these virgin areas is in the Heart's Content Recreation Area. The HCRA contains a one mile interpretive trail that winds through the old growth forest. (I believe the "interpretive" part means that there are a few signs along the trail.) The HCRA borders along the Hickory Creek Wilderness, an 8,660 acre wilderness designated area.



When I was a kid this area was our "go to" spot in Scouts. Whether we were backpacking the Hickory Creek Trail, or just doing a short hike along the Tanbark Trail to the spot where it crosses the East Hickory Creek, Heart's Content was the place to go.

Here you can see my favorite campsite along the Tanbark. Notice my old Coleman Peak1 stove.

After my daughter was born in 2001, I took a break from backpacking. I didn't intend to, but with a baby in the house and a demanding job, I just didn't have time to volunteer with the Boy Scouts any longer. Also some of the guys that I used to backpack with ended up with new families of their own. So, after an extended absence from backpacking, I just recently went back to HCRA.

Driving southeast on Heart's Content Road from Pleasant Road was like a trip down memory lane. I started remembering details from trips past that I thought I had forgotten. It was almost like coming home again. We drove past the new Hickory Creek Trail-head and parking area which was added sometime in the last few years. I pulled into Heart's Content and the first thing I noticed was the old parking for hikers has been closed down. The posts that defined the parking area were still there, but the waist high weeds made it quite obvious that it was no longer used. For some reason seeing the old parking lot closed made me sad. I have quite a few memories of gearing up from the back of a vehicle in that old lot. I was also sad to see that this beautiful picnic area was no longer being maintained very well. The outhouses and the picnic pavilion were not in horrible shape, but the park service has apparently quit mowing and the nice area for picnic blankets, volleyball and other activities is now overgrown.

I had planned on parking at HCRA and catching the Tanbark where it intersects the cross country skiing trail that winds around and through the old growth forest. Since it seemed that overnight parking was not welcome at the picnic area, I drove back to the Hickory Creek parking and picked up the Tanbark which crosses the road right near there.

This trip was just a short one, a "getting back to backpacking" sort of thing. (It was actually my second BP trip of the year. I'll write up the first one, at the Zaleski Backpacking Trail soon.) It was a nice August day, not too hot. I ended up taking my sister-in-law and her future husband with me. It was the SIL's first backpacking trip and I picked the spot where the Tanbark crosses the East Hickory for our destination, one because it is a beautiful spot and two, because it is a short hike. (No need to ruin her desire to backpack on the first trip. I saved that for the second one.)

Along the Tanbark.

We got through the short hike with out a problem and set up camp. After munching on some food, we explored the sandstone cliffs nearby and then returned to camp and had dinner. It really was a pleasant evening. I was reminded of why I love this area so much. Everything is a shade of green in the summer. The canopy is high and thick and the forest is a dappled kaleidescope of greens.

The trip was not without a few hitches. My future brother-in-law didn't bring a sleeping pad and as a consequence, didn't sleep much that night. The damp forest floor just sucked all the heat out of him and he shivered in his bag until dawn. Well, that is he shivered in his bag when he wasn't getting up to use the "loo". Apparently the cold stimulated his kidneys. It also rained on us as we hiked back to the car. Not real hard, but enough.

All in all I had a great time and it reminded me of why this is my "go to" spot. In a few weeks, I'm headed out to Morrison Run for an overnight hike. I'm trying to branch out and explore other areas of the ANF. I don't want my "go to" spot to get overused. Nothing is worse than being bored with your favorite patch of woods.