Chuck Keiper Trail

Chuck Keiper Trail
Established	1976
Length	~50 miles (80 km)
Location	Sproul State Forest, Pennsylvania, United States
Use	Hiking
Hiking details
Season	Year-round
Hazards	Severe Weather

The Chuck Keiper Trail (CKT) is a long-distance backpacking trail that is lightly used and goes through some of the wildest and most visually arresting public lands in Pennsylvania, offering remarkable solitude. It was built starting in 1976 by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry, aided by federally funded Title X workers and the Youth Conservation Corps. The trail is named for the late district game protector for Clinton County, a dedicated conservationist. The only access to the trail is via Pennsylvania Route 144, through the eerily unpopulated and lonely plateau between Renovo and Snow Shoe.

The orange-blazed CKT passes through or near two natural areas and two wild areas. The trail system is divided into two loops – the West Loop of 32.9 miles (52.9 km) and the East Loop of 22.4 miles (36.0 km) – creating three- and two-day backpacking options. The two loops share a cross-connector trail, and the ultimate backpacking trip that does not use the cross connector would be 49.3 miles (79.3 km) in length, though you should not avoid this scenic portion of the CKT system just because it is a connector trail. Some stream fords are still required, although recent sidehill work has reduced them substantially in the area of JU Branch, Burns Run, Boggs Run, and Yost Run. Much of this work has been done in recent years by Keystone Trails Association trail crews. Additional bridges were added in the East Branch area in 2007, and short access trails are planned to reach vistas over Dennison Fork and Russell P. Letterman Wild Area. At the time of this writing, a new path known as the Garby Trail has been planned to connect the northern section of the Chuck Keiper Trail East Loop with the Donut Hole Trail at Hyner Run State Park, far away on the other side of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River.

...
Wikipedia