Behind the scenes with organizations fueling adventure and conservation on Susquehanna Valley trails
Whether you realize it or not, Pennsylvania is an outdoor haven. The state averages 26.6 miles of trails per 100 square miles, or 12,000 miles state-wide, according to the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
For folks in the Susquehanna Valley and beyond, this means plenty of opportunity to explore. Here are three organizations taking charge by showing people how to have fun, be safe, and respect the land they walk, run, and climb on.
Sending it and Serving with South Sentral PA Climbers
South Central PA Climbers (SCPC) president and Harrisburg local Ryan Shipp didn’t start rock climbing until he was 21, but the sport quickly changed his life. “To discover—rediscover—our land at an older age has been really exciting and it’s been great to share that with others.”
SCPC is an all-volunteer nonprofit that educates locals about rock climbing, volunteers to preserve trails, and builds a healthy climbing community. The group practices all types of climbing, including bouldering, top rope, and trad climbing.
SCPC hosts group climbs and fundraising competitions, like the Governor Stable climbing competition or Safe Harbor Gym-to-Crag. Gym-to-Crag events help climbers safely transition from the indoor climbing gym (like Lancaster’s Spooky Nook or the Lititz recROC) to the crag or outdoor rock wall.
“This event is intended to bring experienced climbers together with new climbers that have limited outdoor experience,” Shipp says. “The mentorship at this event promotes safer practices, helps prevent accidents, and educates newer climbers to become stewards of the lands that we climb on."
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The organization performs trail and graffiti cleanups at climbing spots like Chickies Rock County Park in Lancaster and Schaffer Rock in South Mountain. Sometimes, they even help land owners and managers develop trail systems to help direct climbers and hikers to stay on approved trails.
Shipp worked as an outdoor adventure educator for 16 years, but he’s shifting gears to help Pennsylvania reach its climbing potential. He launched a climbing guiding business, carrying that climbing sense of adventure into his work life. Shipp says there’s a lot of untapped opportunity in the region for outdoor sports like climbing. Even as some parks ban climbing—like Rocky Ridge County Park in York—others are opening up to the idea of safe, fun, and responsible recreation.
SCPC treasurer Chris Bell recognizes that joining a climbing community for the first time can feel intimidating. However, he says, “I think just asking the questions, ‘How do you do that? What should I know before trying the sport?’ and just putting yourself out there, be outgoing and figure out the rest as you go. The climbing community is very welcoming."
For SCPC, adventure, education, and conservation are inseparable. Keeping trails clean, landowners happy, and climbers stoked is all a part of the recipe. Shipp knows he couldn’t do it without his team of volunteers, saying, “It takes a special person to donate their time from a climbing day or a night of climbing to go volunteer for the cause and the mission. We want to thank all of our ambassadors, all of our trail day or event volunteers, and anyone that has donated funds to better the climbing community, because otherwise this organization wouldn’t exist.”
Visit www.scpclimbers.org to learn more, and check out upcoming events like pint nights and Gym-to-Crags on Facebook @SCPclimbers
Susquehanna Appalachian Trail Club: Maintaining & Hiking the AT
The Appalachian Trail (AT) is more than a trail. It’s a long national park—2,193 miles long, in fact.
About 230 miles of that trail is right here in Pennsylvania. For the Susquehanna Appalachian Trail Club (SATC), that section is home base.
SATC is a charitable organization under the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and National Park Service. It’s one of 31 official trail clubs maintaining the AT up and down the east. SATC keeps its section of the AT and many adjoining trails clear, manages erosion, clears felled trees, and maintains a basic shelter for thru-hikers.
Recently, The Nature Conservancy acquired acreage in Marysville at Cove Mountain. They enlisted the help of SATC to plan and build trails for the public.
“They had acquired lots of mountain land, and they gave us free reign to plan trails and build those trails,” says Gail Brossman, SATC president. “It’s a work of art.”
But trail maintenance and development is just one of the purposes of SATC. Hike leaders take members on hikes at least once a week—often more. The group ranks those hikes by difficulty and terrain. Members get Trail Mail in their inbox each Monday to learn about all the hiking opportunities (and SATC shares them on their website).
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SATC hiking leader Cindy Radich says, “If you’re looking at our hikes and you have any questions, we really encourage contacting the hike leader and saying ‘I’m a brand new hiker’ or asking ‘How hard is this hike?’ We want you to be comfortable.”
Sometimes, the group even hosts series hikes—like hiking the entire Pennsylvania AT section in pieces, or hiking the 84-mile Standing Stone Trail near Huntingdon County over the course of multiple hikes.
As if that weren’t enough, SATC also focuses on educating the public about conservation and the environment. “We have our finger in a lot of different piles of dirt,” says Brossman.
With more folks exploring the outdoors during the pandemic, this education becomes even more crucial.
Why work so hard to take care of Pennsylvania’s trails? For Brossman and her team of volunteers, there’s an obvious answer: “We’re doing it now because somebody did it for us earlier,” she says.
Doing it all as a group is even better. Brossman adds, “It’s a really nice community of people because we all love the same thing, and we want to help each other accomplish our goals.”
Visit www.satc-hike.org to learn more.
Adventure and Outreach for Miles with Allegheny Trailrunners
If you’re not a runner, you may wonder how anyone could run hundreds of miles in what’s known as an ultramarathon. For Ben Mazur, president and race director of Allegheny Trailrunners, the answer is simple: “All those worries that you have in your everyday life, you can leave behind and just focus on the trail ahead.”
Allegheny Trailrunners is a not-for-profit trail running organization that mainly operates in Blair, Cambria, and Bedford Counties, west of the Susquehanna region. However, Mazur’s involvement in the trail running and ultra running community extends throughout Pennsylvania.
In addition to group runs, Allegheny Trailrunners hosts three big races throughout the year. The Dirty Kiln is a 10-kilometer and half marathon event beginning in Canoe Creek State Park in April. Pennsylvania’s highest race, Rock ‘N The Knob, offers a 10-kilometer, half marathon, and marathon course at Blue Knob Mountain in September. In July, participants in the group’s new Ironstone 100-kilometer ultramarathon will hit the Canoe Creek trails and travel all the way to Greenwood Furnace State Park.
Mazur began trail running 15 years ago—pavement never interested him. At the time, trail running and ultra running as a sport was in its infancy. Now, he’s involved in races year round, whether it be with Allegheny Trailrunners or external events. He’s also involved in the World’s End Ultramarathon near Williamsport and the Black Forest Ultramarathon and Eastern States 100, both of which take place near Lock Haven.
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As a group, ATR hosts conservation days at local state parks. For trail runners, conservation is a natural extension of the sport they love. Many races in the community require participants to put in volunteer hours for trail conservation, assist with races, or donate to the Pennsylvania Parks Foundation in order to register.
During the day, Mazur works for the Southern Alleghenies Planning and Development Commission. He provides small businesses with free assistance to help their companies market and communicate better to their clients. When Mazur wants to tune out the world, he heads to the nearby MidState Trail, a 321-mile trail that crosses the state from Bedford all the way up to Tioga County. “It’s billed as Pennsylvania’s wildest trail,” Mazur says.
Allegeny Trailrunners is an all-volunteer organization. “At the end of the year, none of the officers are paid or compensated for their work,” Mazur says. Instead, he adds, “We donate all the proceeds that we've made throughout the year to other local nonprofits and charity organizations.”
Last year, Allegheny Trailrunners chose the Central PA Humane Society and Saint Vincent De Paul Society Food Pantry in Altoona as the beneficiaries for their donations.
For trail runners—whether or not they’re a part of Allegheny Trailrunners—the reward is in the footpath. If they can preserve the trails and community they love through donations and volunteering, all the better.
Visit www.alleghenytrailrunners.com to learn more, and keep tabs on events on Facebook @Alleghenytrailrunners.
Ready to get on the Trails?
What do South Central PA Climbers, Susquehanna Appalachian Trail Club, and Allegheny Trailrunners have in common?
They’re made up of a community who serves the land they explore!
The onset of the pandemic led to an influx of outdoor enthusiasts hitting the trails. With weather warming yet again, we must remember: Treat the land and landowners with respect, stay safe, and never underestimate the wonder of PA trails.
