West Rim Trail: 30 Miles Along the Pine Creek Gorge

The West Rim Trail is a popular hiking trail that traverses the western rim of the Pine Creek Gorge which is also known as the PA Grand Canyon from Blackwell to Ansonia. The West Rim Trail is 30.5 miles long and is marked with orange blazes. This is a point-to-point trail so two cars or a shuttle will be necessary. Pine Creek Outfitters located just off Route 6 in Ansonia, PA does offer shuttle services. The parking lots at both trail heads are rather large and have vault toilets. The terrain is pretty moderate with the largest climb of 1,100ft being from the southern trail head up to the plateau. Other than a few brushy sections and some long side-hill sections, the trail conditions are very nice. I recommend hiking the trail from south-to-north as the best vistas are saved till the end and the Burning Barrel Bar and Grill is only a half mile from the northern trail head. There are an abundance of campsites and vistas throughout the trail. I recommend the best time to hike this trail as early spring as water is normally plentiful. This trail can be very dry in summer and early fall which makes getting water a challenge. A few sections of the trail are a little brushy which is made worse with foliage. Rattlesnakes and stingy nettle are also an issue on this trail during the summer months. A very detailed map with campsites, water, and guidebook can be purchased from Pine Creek Outfitters and a few other locations in the area. A few online sources for this guide are listed below. https://www.amazon.com/Liberty-Mounta... https://pahikes.com/products/guide-to... Free maps can be downloaded from DCNR's website https://www.dcnr.pa.gov/StateForests/... Pine Creek Outfitters (570)-724-3003 [email protected] Campsite GPS Tags Lat: 41.584497 Lon: -77.398880 Lat: 41.593184 Lon: -77.406874 Lat: 41.600501 Lon: -77.414174 Lat: 41.608700 Lon: -77.422405 Lat: 41.610698 Lon: -77.423557 Lat: 41.626242 Lon: -77.447469 Lat: 41.628308 Lon: -77.447600 Lat: 41.641336 Lon: -77.458512 Lat: 41.658342 Lon: -77.472061 Lat: 41.666136 Lon: -77.483612 Lat: 41.676580 Lon: -77.466005 Lat: 41.682177 Lon: -77.469988 Lat: 41.682460 Lon: -77.464432