Benezette, Pa day trip

[Ddays]

So my youngest daughter is off to college in Columbia, SC in a few weeks and we decided we should go spend a day exploring the backroads roads and trails in Benezette, Pa and the Quehanna Wild Area in the North centarl part of the state. Benezette is home to an Elk herd that was repopulated back in 1915 or so with Elk from Yellowstone after the native herd was wiped out by over-hunting. The Quehanna Wild Area is roughly 75 square miles designated as wilderness. There are numerous dirt & gravel roads throughout it but better yet there are a lot of old gas well access roads that are mostly unmaintained. We started in Medix Run, where a group of families had a hunting camp in the late 60's but sold it in 2005.






Since this is kind of a send off trip, I let her do most of the driving. Airing down before the start of the trip with a large stream crossing.





After that, on to the trails. Really nice on these roads. You never see anyone and you can go at your own pace.




A short ways in we came across a decent mud hole for her to try her hand at.







The smile says it all!



Then on to more trails







Focused!

 

[CarolinaJK]

Really awesome pictures! Seems to have been an awesome trip! Let me know if you ever come and visit Columbia! I'm about an hour or so south from there and would love to see the Jeep!

 

[Ddays]

We found a little side trail that lead to an old area that had been strip mined. There were some hills & dropoffs she was able to practice maneuvering around and positioning herself to go up & down the slopes. I think we spent 45 minutes here!













One of the more interesting areas we came across back in the 70's are these bunkers. Back in the 50's, Curtiss-Wright, the aerospace company, bought a ton of property from the state to build a facility that built & tested
nuclear jet engines for military use. These old buildings are all that's left now. For the whole story type in "Quehanna Wild Area" on Wikipedia. Sorry for the crappy pics - I obviously screwed up the settings for these pphotos.

This road once accommodated tractor trailers.



This is one of the bunkers the scientists would go in & look out of when they'd light the engines off. Those rectangular openings used to have 8" thick glass in them. They were shot out in the 70's & were sealed up a few years ago.







This detention pond supplied water to cool the engines down.



After that, it was to get loaded up & head on back



All in all it was a great day. Perfect weather & had a great time spending the whole day with my daughter. Below is some of the wildlife we saw during the day. Missed getting a good photo of the Bobcat we saw though.
Bummer. Pretty rare to spot one.




This area is highly recommended for anyone to get out & see. Its absolutely gorgeous in the Fall, but there is a ton of tourists on the weekends. There is a lot to see even if you go in a car. There is an Elk Viewing Center up on the hill from Benezette that was built in 2005 or so that is worth the trip. Huge new building with a theater, mounted animals, gift shop etc. Plus there are numerous Elk viewing areas there and on up the road. Hope you all enjoy the photos!

 

[Overland_stormtrooper]

Very nice send off trip ... pics look great ...

 

[cozdude]

Awesome pics and trip report! Thanks for sharing Jerry!

 

[Ddays]

Really awesome pictures! Seems to have been an awesome trip! Let me know if you ever come and visit Columbia! I'm about an hour or so south from there and would love to see the Jeep!

You got it! 1st trip down is gonna be in a boring minivan I rented tho...:icon_crazy:

Very nice send off trip ... pics look great ...

Awesome pics and trip report! Thanks for sharing Jerry!

Thanks guys. Beautiful part of the state everyone drives through on I-80 but misses all of the good parts. Kinda like every interstate I guess...

 

[WJCO]

Very cool. And I guarantee neither of you gave a shit about gas mileage on that trip. :thumb:

 

[GraniteCrystal]

I'm saving up for 37s, looking at these pics thinking, man, those must be 40s. But nope, profile says 37s. Can't wait to be there. Great pics. Looks fun.

 

[Mike_JK_Houston_711]

Very cool. Beautiful area, thanks for sharing!

 

[Ddays]

Very cool. And I guarantee neither of you gave a shit about gas mileage on that trip. :thumb:

Haha - nope! Fun day. I was kinda hopin we'd get to pull line on the 'ol winch so she could get to practice that as well but other than that one mud hole it was pretty dry.

I'm saving up for 37s, looking at these pics thinking, man, those must be 40s. But nope, profile says 37s. Can't wait to be there. Great pics. Looks fun.

It's the fenders! And I love these Coopers. I think the tread pattern makes them look bigger & meatier.

Very cool. Beautiful area, thanks for sharing!

Thank's! Travelling through the midwest to get to Moab last month I realized I shouldn't take what we have for granted over here.

 

[mmanross]

We found a little side trail that lead to an old area that had been strip mined. There were some hills & dropoffs she was able to practice maneuvering around and positioning herself to go up & down the slopes. I think we spent 45 minutes here!

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One of the more interesting areas we came across back in the 70's are these bunkers. Back in the 50's, Curtiss-Wright, the aerospace company, bought a ton of property from the state to build a facility that built & tested
nuclear jet engines for military use. These old buildings are all that's left now. For the whole story type in "Quehanna Wild Area" on Wikipedia. Sorry for the crappy pics - I obviously screwed up the settings for these pphotos.

This road once accommodated tractor trailers.

View attachment 215912

This is one of the bunkers the scientists would go in & look out of when they'd light the engines off. Those rectangular openings used to have 8" thick glass in them. They were shot out in the 70's & were sealed up a few years ago.

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This detention pond supplied water to cool the engines down.

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After that, it was to get loaded up & head on back

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All in all it was a great day. Perfect weather & had a great time spending the whole day with my daughter. Below is some of the wildlife we saw during the day. Missed getting a good photo of the Bobcat we saw though.
Bummer. Pretty rare to spot one.

View attachment 215918


This area is highly recommended for anyone to get out & see. Its absolutely gorgeous in the Fall, but there is a ton of tourists on the weekends. There is a lot to see even if you go in a car. There is an Elk Viewing Center up on the hill from Benezette that was built in 2005 or so that is worth the trip. Huge new building with a theater, mounted animals, gift shop etc. Plus there are numerous Elk viewing areas there and on up the road. Hope you all enjoy the photos!

I know this is an old post but I was hoping that you could tell me the names of some of these trails I’ve been trying to find them online for a few days. And I’m trying to plan a trip. Thank you

 

[Ddays]

Man I wish I could but some of those trails don't really have names. They're offshoots of old dirt roads. Are you familiar with the area at all?

 

[mmanross]

Man I wish I could but some of those trails don't really have names. They're offshoots of old dirt roads. Are you familiar with the area at all?

I’m not super familiar I know that I’ve been told that they are just township roads and that the one starting point is by the medix hotel. Do you know if they are open all the time?

 

[Ddays]

I’m not super familiar I know that I’ve been told that they are just township roads and that the one starting point is by the medix hotel. Do you know if they are open all the time?

Some of them are regular dirt roads like Dieble Road and Losey Rd, but the really fun ones are hard to find, as they should be

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