The North Country Trail - Branchton Road to Kohlmeyer Road via Vulture Bear Rock through PA State Game Lands 95

The North Country Trail from Branchton Road to Kohlmeyer Road, through Pennsylvania State Game Lands 95.

As summer winds down, we've been trying out some new sections of the North Country Trail.  So, with great hiking weather in the forecast a couple of weekends ago, we hit the trail in northeastern Butler County, Pennsylvania.

Up in this area the trail cuts through a portion of Pennsylvania State Game Lands 95 and, since we'd never been on this section before, we weren't sure what it would be like.  We were delightfully surprised.

Parts of this section of the North Country Trail follow wide, groomed paths.

We're also not really familiar with state game lands so we weren't really sure what to expect.  Parts of the trail follow wide, mowed paths through the woods.  We had to pay attention because all through the game lands were many wide mowed paths off to the sides that had been cleared, presumably for the hunters.  Luckily the trail is well marked and it's fairly easy to find the blue trail markers, but we definitely had to keep an eye out.

We came across this old stone wall.

After some time on this groomed section, we hit the woods where we walked for a while and came across an old stone wall.  Not far away from that stood Vulture Bear Rock, a nice place for a quick break, and surprisingly high given the landscape leading up to it.

Nice resting spot along the trail, Vulture Bear Rock.  

There is a bench that sits on top of the rock that was donated by a Boy Scout Troop and we guessed that when the leaves are down, the view is nice.  The path drops down and below the rock.

Vulture Bear Rock is higher than we thought.  Look out below!

Continuing on through the woods we eventually hit more portions of the trail that follow the wider, groomed paths, then on through some wetland areas where we crossed over this bridge surrounded by wildflowers of all kinds.

Loved this footpath bridge as we got closer to the wetlands.  It was surrounded by wildflowers.  These great blue lobelia were simply gorgeous.

We arrived at our stopping point at Kohlmeyer Road to find this special bonus, a wetland area that we had no idea was here.  It was just beautiful and we were the only folks around which made it so serene.  We'll definitely be heading to this portion again.

Our favorite part of this portion of the North Country Trail was this wetland area. The only thing we heard were birds and the water.  No one else was around.

Notes:

This section of the trail is fairly level, with some exceptions.  It offers a nice variety of terrain which makes it interesting.  The real treat, especially for us, was our stopping point, the wetlands.  It was stunning and such a surprise.

One important thing to remember is that this trail is on state game lands so hunting is permitted during certain times.  Keep that in mind when planning your visit.


Directions:

You can find parking off Branchton Rd just a bit east of route 308 near Annandale Pa.  Look for the North Country trail sign.