Hiking Weiser State Forest’s Roaring Creek Tract (Aristes, PA) — July 2020

7 min readJul 4, 2020

Big Mountain Trail, Natalie Trail, Ponds Trail, etc.

Wesier State Forest is one of Pennsylvania’s noncontiguous forest lands. The Wesier system as a whole covers eight counties, and each location has its own interesting unique attractions and trail systems. The Roaring Creek Tract, located in parts of Columbia, Northumberland, and Schuykill counties, has become one of my favorite places to hike because of its variety of trails, each with their own interesting features.

It is worth mentioning that the vast majority of the visitors to the Roaring Creek Tract spend their time in and around the easiest/longest walking trail in this part of the state, the Roaring Creek Trail, which is an 8-mile gravel-lined road that stretches from the tract’s west end off of Rte 54 near Elysburg to where the tract intersects Rte 42 between Numidia and Aristes. The 8-mile path takes hikers and bikers alongside the tract’s reservoir system, and it is not uncommon to find people canoeing, kayaking, or fishing in some of the bodies of water along the trail. (Also worth noting: authorized vehicles do occasionally drive through this trail). The Roaring Creek Trail also features a number of picnic tables, and while it can get crowded during peak days/times, it is a nice place to take people who want to get into the outdoors but who don’t want to do anything too strenuous.

For me, the highlights of Wesier’s Roaring Creek Tract are found elsewhere in the forest.

Instead of parking near Roaring Creek Trail, I would advise hikers looking for more of a challenge or for more exploration opportunites to park near the top of the hill at the DCNR Headquarters building, just south of the popular parking area on Rte 42. From here, you can easily access the main trail that cuts across the vast majority of the forest (going East-West): the Big Mountain Trail.

The Big Mountain Trail actually parallels the Roaring Creek Trail for much of its length, but it does so about 500 feet higher up and across more rugged and varied hiking terrain. The trail weaves in and out of old mining and mule paths, past and over abandoned and closed mines, along creeks, waterfalls, wooded ponds, impressive rock formations, and some remaining traces of prior land usage. If you want to avoid parking by the water and walking up the mountain via the Pump House Trail to get the the Big Mountain Trail, You can access the trail directly from the parking lot at the DCNR building (by either linking to it off of Dark Woods trail on the east side of 42 or by heading across the road to access it via the Black Road or Aristes trails.

One element of the trail sysetm at the Roaring Creek Tract is that the trails are marked in ways that don’t always seem to align with the published map(s) or those on popular sites like AllTrails. After doing a lot of hiking there, I found the map above to be the most fully fleshed out and useful, but you will likely want to consider using a variety of maps at different points depending on where you hike. Alternately, you can do what I did and just wander around, seeing what connects to what and where the various marked and unmarked trails come together. There is a lot to explore at this forest, and the rest of this entry will try to indicate some of those highlights.

Some of the most interesting trails — from both the perspective of sightseeing and from trail complexity/difficulty — are those located on the east side of the forest. If you only check out one trail on this side of the tract, the Ponds Trail is a particularly good one to explore. It goes by two wooded ponds, one of which features mineral deposits that give it an aquamarine/seafoam green color (a photo is at the top of this essay) and the other of which is mostly hidden behind some trees. The trail to and from the ponds can sometimes be a little soggy (as can man of the trails on this side of Rte 42), so good boots are recommended.

Also on this side of the tract is an old homestead (located off a trail with the same name), views of wind turbines, a waterfall and bridge, and at least a couple of fairly-steep mountain trails that you can scramble up and down. I have encountered wildlife all around the tract, but on this side in particular I have found some more unusual species of invertebrates, lizards, fungi, and other flora and fauna. This part of the tract also adjoins state game lands, which I have yet to spend much time exploring but which should offer other opportunities for spotting wildlife.

On the west side of 42, the Big Mountain Trail is the one you’ll likely want to spend the most time on. It offers some occasional views of the landscape below and, especially closer to the Elysburg side of the tract, it connects to a series of trails that seem designed for mountain biking and exploration. It is on this west side of the tract that you’ll find most of the obvious remnants of old mining activity, you’ll cross more varied terrain, and you’ll likely encounter more “unusual” sights (such as toys mounted to trees for blazes!).

One of the more interesting trails on this side of the forest is the Natalie Trail, which weaves in and out of the tract at a few points, crossing over a number of its trails (a note: the full trail is not accounted for on the map above). It has an “old footpath” feel to it, and while everything is fairly well blazed, attempting to follow it can require you to keep close attention to your bearings and to check a couple of maps.

Also on this side of the park, lower down and off of the Roaring Creek Trail, is the McWilliams trail, which cuts along the north side of the largest reservoir (McWilliams’) and offers closer down to the water views. It features some bridges and mostly flat terrain, and is a good beginner trail for someone looking to do something a little more interesting that the gravel-lined Roaring Creek Trail.

Here are a few pictures gathered on this side of the tract, which also features the highest elevation in the forest (“Big Mountain”) at 1811'.