There is this one place in Pennsylvania. It is filled with a mix of hardwood, hemlock, and pine forests. These forests boast gorgeous streams and rivers, a multitude of vistas, and some of the darkest skies in the eastern United States. This place includes well over 2 million acres of public lands and thousands of miles of hiking trails and routes, which wind and intertwine their way through this landscape that fills the northwestern half of the state. This place is called the Allegheny Plateau, and within this landscape is a budding new long distance hiking route. This place is remote. This route is wild. This is the PA Wilds Trail.
This route combines short segments of several well established hiking trails, and acts as a 200-mile introduction to what Pennsylvania has to offer for backpackers, hikers, and trail runners. As of Summer, 2020 the most official route involves hiking from Parker Dam State Park to the Northern Terminus of the West Rim Trail in Asaph. While there is a standard route in place, the actual focus of the PA Wilds Trail (PAWT) is to give you, the explorer, the freedom to create your own adventure on and off trails as you ramble through a sizable portion of Pennsylvania.
I hiked this route with a friend in 2020. Our GPX data is below, more info and pictures coming soon!