Pine Creek Rail Trail - Rattlesnake Rock To Waterville

See our trip from Darling Run To Rattlesnake Rock Here: 

http://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2012/09/biking-pine-creek-rail-trail.html

 This trip, we started at Rattlesnake Rock.  You have to walk to the rock, its a short trail off the bike path, but it really is gorgeous here.

Instead of a shuttle, we decided to utilize our teenagers for this trip.  We had them drive us here, drop us off, and then had them pick us up in Waterville.  They took books and smartphones, and entertained themselves while waiting for us.  Ha.  Much like I have done for a thousand practices & trips for them.....  It took us 3.5 hours to complete this.

We are not athletic bikers.  This is purely a leisurely ride for us.  We ride Raleigh cruiser bikes.  We passed SERIOUS bikers today - in special outfits, with multiple water bottles and saddle bags...  that's not us.  (I'm assuming those bikers were doing the entire trail today)  We bring along a water bottle for each of us, and I have a basket on the front of my bike to hold my camera, and we have docks for our phones (they are cheap on ebay!  I think I paid around $2.50 for them.  And they are  really handy) and I carry a small first aid kit..  but that's it.

nothing fancy.

We dressed in layers, and took along light gloves.  It was chilly when we started out - but an hour in we had removed our sweater/sweatshirt and then later we put them back on.  The gloves were a precaution, we never actually used them.

We run the Charity Miles app on our phones - companies donate to the charity of our choice (Wounded Warriors) for every mile we bike/run/walk.  It costs us nothing, and although it's only $1 here and there, it does add up!

Some Basic Info for the Pine Creek Rail Trail:

Coordinates for Rattlesnake Rock - N 41° 32.440 W 077° 24.324
Directions - 180 to 15 to 414 west

A map of the entire trail can be found here:

http://www.visittiogapa.com/railtrailmap.pdf

My  public google map with the stops marked

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=214182893612251075945.0004ca7c6b5f89cf63220&msa=0

We found this chart of times and distances on the Pine Creek Outfitters website:

Ansonia to Blackwell : The Canyon

17 miles (2.5 - 3.0 hrs)

to Rattlesnake Rock is 19 miles (3.5 hrs)

to Cedar Run is 23 miles (4.5 hrs)

to Slate Run is 29 miles (5.5 hrs)

to Waterville is 44 miles (7-8 hrs)

to Whitetail is 55 miles (8-10 hrs)

to Jersey Shore is 57 miles (8-10 hrs)

Starting at Wellsboro Junction gives you an additional 7 miles (1 hour)

The terrain is very, very flat. Crushed stone. No real challenges here.

The busiest part of this stretch is definitely right below Rattlesnake Rock. In Cedar Run there is an Inn, rental houses, and a cute little (tiny) country store with lots of bike rack parking.

This place was PACKED.  They had some really cute t-shirts, but it was really too small and busy for us to look too much.  There were a few small tables, one dominated by a really cute checker board, and the menu looked great - subs and ice cream - but there was no way we'd have had time to wait in line, and then wait for our food, on this busy day.  This was Columbus Day week-end, and the weather was fabulous, contributing to the crowds.

 No cell service for most of this stretch.  Occasionally I'd receive a text message, so every once in awhile we must have had service - but not frequently or reliably.

The outside of the Cedar Run General Store.  The Cedar Run Inn is directly across from this.

This is what most of the bike path looks like - tree lined on both sides for the majority of it.  Often the creek is to one side, later in this stretch you are along a road for a good bit of the trip..  but it's mostly very similar to this.  It's really gorgeous.

There's a Burma Shave along this stretch - although it's a little hard to see from the bike path.  There's a road to the right of the path, and the signs are on the hill to the right of the road - 

Pine Creek Valley USA

Is Beautiful To See

But It Can Only

Stay That Way

If You Keep It

Litter Free

(This sign should say Burma Shave, in my opinion!)

Pine Creek Preservation

 I LOVE biking across bridges.  Especially pretty old bridges like this.  Directly across this bridge is a campground, and there were a LOT of younger children on bikes, unattended, here.  Again, it was Columbus Day week-end, and they weren't far from their camping areas (Parents could hear them if they hollered loud enough) and they weren't doing anything wrong..  they just blocked the path.

Lots of theses markers along this stretch.

view from the path 

Normally I take notes on a trip like this, so when I get home I can describe the trip photos a bit more accurately.  This time I did not, and my memory is not that great!  I'm pretty sure this is Slate Run, 8.8 miles from Rattlesnake Rock.  This was the last place we saw to buy food/drinks before Waterville - although there are "comfort stations" every few miles, so there's no shortage of bathrooms along the way.

Most of the trail runs right along the creek.  We didn't see any wildlife today really, but there were so many people, out, that was not too surprising.  

 Although there were a LOT of people out today, there were long stretches where we saw no one at all.  Even on a busy day, this trail is not overly crowded, for the most part.

When I first read about this stretch of the trail, I read that it was along the road and I pictured something very different - more like riding the path in Williamsport. It's not like that at all. There was not much traffic, and it is still a beautiful, peaceful, ride. We crossed the road 3 or 4 times - only once did I feel there was very low visibility, and I would have been worried if we had younger children with us at that one spot.

 Entering Cammal

 We were SO happy to finally arrive in Waterville.  This was our first real bike ride of the year - and we were sore and tired at the end.  The last 5 miles were kind of rough.  This is a VERY easy path, we were just that out of shape!  We left at 11:39 and arrived here at 3:17.  Three and a half hours!  We weren't pushing ourselves, but we did not dwadle nearly as much as we did for the earlier trip.  I don't think this section is any more difficult, I just think we were in much different shape this time around.  Before our last trip, we were biking regularly.  This time, our bikes hadn't been out of the garage more than 2 or 3 times all year.

There are informative signs, town markers, etc, all along the trail.

That's trip 2 for us. We still have the very beginning of the trail - Wellsboro Junction to Darling Run - and the very end of the trail - Waterville to Jersey Shore - and then we will have completed the entire trail.