My name is Jeff Mitchell and I’m an attorney, former district attorney, and outdoors author. My books can be found here. I thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2022 and the Colorado Trail in 2023. I live near Tunkhannock, PA in Wyoming County. I’ve been writing for over twenty years, exploring the incredible natural beauty of Pennsylvania. This beauty is often overlooked and unknown. This state is home to stunning waterfalls, canyons, vistas, rock formations, and habitats. Its vast public lands hold amazing secrets, places that will inspire and astound you.
People will only protect places they know exist. They will be an advocate for a place with which they have a relationship and connection. The goal of this website is to get people outside to create those relationships. By realizing the beauty in our backyards, I hope we will feel a sense of pride for where we live.
Join me on this journey.
Hike Pennsylvania with Jeff Mitchell 
Great Site!
Where’s your picture, jmitch?!
sweet site, great work!
scott martin
Found your blog while searching for info on Tilbury Knob…
I shared because this is exactly how I feel. Well said. I moved to this area almost 4 years ago and was appalled the first time I hiked past a well pad with a blaze on a post because there were no longer trees there. I’ve kayaked in areas that I’m sure a few years ago were pristine. .. and now you fight truck traffic and the rumble of activity seems to never be far enough away. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to attend your presentation in Scranton this past weekend. I’d have loved to see my Smith’s Knob photo enlarged. It’s my favorite place…next to the Haystacks as a close second. I was lucky to get that shot and happy to share. 🙂 More people need to see and appreciate what is here before apathy leads us to the same debacle as the post coal boom.
Thanks, people loved your picture. The presentation went well, there is a lot of interest in exploring our special places.
Have you considered mapping your hikes (at least the ones you’ve published a post on) in a public Google map? I’ve enjoyed following your posts for a while, but now want to go back and search for hikes in a particular area, and not finding a method. Anyway, thanks!
Thanks and great idea. I’m really not that computer savvy, so I’m not sure how to do that, but I’ll look into it.
I noted and appreciated the coordinates you’ve been adding to your posts recently. I created a Google map of them with a link to each post. (I regretfully didn’t figure out how to make the links clickable.) If you have a Google account, you can copy the map and add new posts (or old ones I omitted). I can provide more detailed help if desired.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zgMSCiA0o1BQ.krqSQUk_QhtY&usp=sharing
Thanks, looks great.
Hi Jeff – I own both editions of your Endless Mountain hiking guides but always seem to get myself lost. I spend most of my free time exploring Pennsylvania’s public lands and seem to love the state as much as you. It’s a pleasure to find your blog – maybe we’ll bump into one another some day on the trail!
Thanks. I hope to meet you as well.
Thanks for doing this! I came across your blog because you had posted on VFTT, which features New England and New York. I grew up in Mt. Pocono, so when I hear Pennsylvania and mountains in the same sentence I immediately think of “NO TRESPASSING!” signs, heart shaped bath tubs, and rattlesnakes (except of course Delaware Water Gap). We live in New England and usually go to the White Mountains in NH, but next time we’re down visiting my brother we’ll look some of these places up.
Sure. PA has vast public lands and so many places to explore, not to mention one of the most extensive trail systems in the east. It is a very underrated state, but people are beginning to discover its gems. And you’ll have many of these places all to yourself. Just for comparison, PA’s state forests have about three times the acreage of NH’s White Mountain National Forest. Have fun exploring.
Hey Jeff:
Great stuff here! Grew up locally in NEPA and come back in the Spring and Summer whenever I can. Have a question for you….I want to explore Coalbed swamp in SGL 57 but can’t seem to plot out a way to get there based on looking at some topo maps online. What’s the best place to park and find a trail to get there? I’m probably gonna try for it either late May or early June…..hoping ticks aren’t that bad if a lot of bush wacking is required….seems to be less up on red rock mountain compared to other areas. Thx for any help!
Park at the coal mine at the end of the new road. Find the old road/ATV trail at the top of the mine. Hike in a northwest direction. Cross Red Brook, the outlet of Coalbed Swamp (cool rock features below to the right). If I remember correctly, follow grades to the left. May have to bushwhack to see the swamp. Unlike the name implies, it is pristine with spruce and very diverse with rare species. You can also hike up Red Brook when you cross it. Again, it can be thick and hard to reach the swamp itself. Ticks are less common up there. Have fun.
Thanks for the info Jeff! One question though…where exactly is the coal mine at the end of the new road…maybe you have a latitude/longitude location?
41.472019, -76.205286 on google maps
Hey Jeff,
Would it be advisable to do Bartlett Mountain / Catlin Brook anytime soon given all the rain that’s been happening? You do warn about some tricky stream crossings in your book, so I thought I would ask. Thx.
Creeks should be ok now, expect wet feet crossing Stony Brook. This is a challenging and beautiful loop, good to have GPS. There are wet areas on the top of the plateau. If you intend to include Catlin, know that it is very steep. I actually think it is best to go down the west side of the stream, not the east side where the old trail was. Easier to see the falls from the west side. Have fun.
Thanks Jeff. I anticipate wet feet, and I will have rain gear as well. I don’t have a GPS, but the descriptions in your book are more detailed than any guidebook I have seen, so I should be ok on Bartlett Mtn. I will try the west side of Catlin rather than the east; thanks for that tip. I want to see those waterfalls!
Hello there. I have never been on your site before and just saw your concept for the EMT Trail to connect the LT with Ricketts Glen. I’m pretty familiar with the area, having grown up spending a lot of time along the Loyalsock, hiking the LT, and lived on top Red Rock Mtn. for a year, so am familiar with Ricketts Glen, some of SGL 57, Ringdale, Mildred and Lopez areas, etc. I am retired now, have my own chainsaw and chaps for trail work (I maintain a section of the Mid State about 15 miles from State College. This is a project I could contribute some effort to when you are ready to move.
Thanks, we’ll keep you in mind. A final trail route has been determined and submitted to PGC. It will likely take a while to get approvals. If our route is approved, it will be a stunning trail. This trail concept has been many years in the making and I hope it becomes a reality.
Hi Jeff, thanks for the blog and info about the EMT. It sounds like you’ve already submitted a proposed route so it might be too late, but if you find that you could use any mapping or analysis of spatial data, I’d be happy to help. There is a range of things that might be useful such as analyzing elevation, distance to water sources, pdf maps, web maps, cartography, ground truthing, etc.
Esther, thanks for your offer to help. A route has been identified, but as we move through the process we might need your assistance. Thanks.
Jeff,
Even after leaving PA and moving to Hawaii I still check your blog occasionally to see what new gems you’ve uncovered since I left. One spot I never got around to exploring and I don’t think I’ve ever seen on your blog is the forks of Campbells Run in the Pine Creek Gorge. The google topo map shows a high likelihood of numerous waterfalls on this creek. I bet it’s a good spot, and if it peaks your interest to explore, I’m sure we’d all be interested to read about it and see your pictures. Happy exploring!
Thanks for following. Yes, I’ve been to Campbell’s Run. Incredible place. About 5 falls, one is almost 50 feet tall in an impressive gorge. I might write a post about it in the future. Lots of waterfalls in the Pine Creek Gorge.
Hi there. A friend of mine sent me the link to your site with information on the World’s End Loop hike. In your article, you state that this could be an overnight backpacking adventure. Are there any permits required to camp on the trail(s)? I am trying to conduct a shakedown trip for a group of scouts preparing to go to Philmont. Thought your 11 mile hike would be perfect for a one night adventure. You can contact me at scouts@troop538.org. Thank you very much Stephen,.
Mitch,
Can you provide a current (Jan 2020) status on the EMT? Thanks.
A trail assessment was completed. The PGC wants the trail to have permission from a nearby private landowner to permit camping.
Howdy, just found you after finding your vid on YOUTUBE of your PA Wilds Hike…. sorry you didnt finish. Im now into retired mode 🙂 and that looks like a trail i need to hike ! Name is Dan in Emporium…. lots of trails and forest roads here and the Bucktail Path Trail for some training hikes before i get back to the long hikes. I have the AT & PCT done, need the CDT done for the Triple Crown. A tough road ahead for this old fella :-))
Excellent website! Thanks for your work in producing this.
Thanks!
Thank you. You have succeeded in my case. I have discovered the wonders of the mountains in our own backyard thanks to you. No more car rides to other states wasting good time in a vehicle.
I’m a volunteer with DCNR in Loyalsock. For all I know I’m the only one. I currently maintain a number of trails that you introduced to us properly for the first time in your books.
I volunteered after taking your Hoagland Loop hike. The trail immediately became one of my favorites. I volunteered and requested to maintain them. It was not to be. I was informed they were being abandoned.
They offered the OLP and handed me some paint. It became obvious when they didn’t tell me where to start or stop that I was in it alone.
1 year in and I’ve cleared it of blowdown twice, brush cut the mountain laurel and have reblazed 20 miles of it.
I’m now working with local runners to reopen the Long and Short Run Trails.
Anyways… thank you again for all of this. Your knowledge and willingness to share it gave me the courage to step off the trail and find some truly amazing places.
Now a question, how is the Endless Mountain Trail coming along? And are they still following proposed route?
Thanks for all of your work. The OLP has become very popular and I’m glad its getting some maintenance. Too bad to hear about Hoagland, it is a great loop. There is some talk to build a connector from the OLP to the LT. Not much news for the EMT, there is still some work going on to try to get a campsite along the route.
Jeff: read your description of the World’s End Superloop on the KTA newsletter link. My wife and I want to hike the west end of the loop. Where the LT crosses World’s End Road (going west), did you walk up the road to Coal Mine Road to pick up the bridle trail that appears to parallel World’s End Road? I don’t recall seeing a bridle trail connecting directly to the LT at that intersection.
Thanks for generously sharing these trials!
Yes, there is a bridle trail intersection there, blazed red I believe. It meets the LT very close to the road.
Thanks Jeff. We found it and it was much better than road-hiking.
This can be made even better by including existing and proposed trails in Elk and Jefferson Counties which link to Armstrong County to Erie.https://www.railstotrails.org/our-work/trailnation/industrial-heartland-trails-coalition/mega-corridors-and-major-trails/