After attending two family weddings, one in NJ and the other in NY, we headed to western PA to glamp at the Loleta Recreation area in the Allegheny National Forest. We "discovered" this area based on a YouTube video by the Heknbak's. We stayed in the Lower Loop Camping Area where shore power was available at each site. That is the only utility provided (with the exception of one site near the front where there was a dedicated water faucet). There is no dump station for the campground. We arrived at the campground with our fresh water tank and bladder empty assuming it would be easy to fill them at the campground. The campground map showed water being available right by our site, #30, but that didn't turn out to be the case. There was a faucet near the vault toilet and a place to park. Unfortunately, there was no threaded connection to attach our hose to. I tried to use our water bandit but the rubber portion ballooned excessively under pressure. The pressure built, I assume, due to our water filter. Fortunately, there was a faucet with a threaded connection near the campground kiosk and an empty campsite we were able to park at while filling up with water. Apparently, I forgot to take pictures of the camper at the campground so I can't provide any.
The day use area had a bath house with showers and flush toilets. It was mostly used for fishing but there were picnic areas, a volleyball court and a swimming area. The Millstone Brook flowed through the day use area and that was the source for fishing and swimming. As is often the case, the area was developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps. In fact, there was a monument to the corps and what looked like possible corp lodging in the day use area. I used the swimming area one day but I quickly found deep mud quickly after entering. The hosts were nearby and I mentioned the area needed dredging; they agreed and said it had been five years since it was dredged.
The wild and scenic Clarion River is nearby.
Millstone Road is a gravel road that connects Loleta Recreation Area to the Clarion River shore. We traveled down Millstone Road on our bikes, which follows Millstone Brook, and reached the river in about 3.6 miles. Jane went biking with me on several of my rides since Millstone Road was well maintained for a gravel road and the ride along the river was scenic and fairly flat. One could bike upriver or downriver along River Road once reaching the river. There are designated dispersed campsites along Millstone Road (sites M1 through M9) and upriver along the River Road (C1 through C17). One of the nicest sites along Millstone is M1. It is right on the brook, you can drive in and it is quite large. At one point there were at least half a dozen tents and vehicles there. You can see the vacated site below.
We only traveled upriver on our bikes far enough to see C1 through C15. Two of the dispersed sites were located by a vault toilet and were located on Robin "Island." A brief description of the island's history was located next to the vault toilet.
In addition to vault toilets at Robyn Island and at other locations, there were some apparent spring water fed pipes along the river. Visitors filling containers vouched for the quality of the water when I inquired. One of the spring fed pipes is shown below and was less than a mile from Robin Island.
Also along the river were Allegheny National Forest placards and maps. There seemed to be an older map of the area and a newer map. I wasn't able to load the maps from the Allegheny National website (an error stated the shared file link has been removed or is unavailable). Some pictures of the maps and placards are shown below. The presumed older map is shown first.
One of the placards showed a black bear but I guess bears don't presently visit the area. The campground dumpster has no bear proofing and as we were there during the busy 4th of July period, trash overflowed the dumpster and there was no sign of animals disturbing the trash out in the open.
On one of my bike rides I passed by the Clarion River Lodge. We heard the food was great and their website touted awards such as Best Steak by the Jeffersonian Democrat so we decided to bike there and have dinner one evening. Unfortunately, the food was disappointing even with Jane ordering the steak. The lodge and its setting appeared to be a great place to stay otherwise.
The national forest website gave directions to the recreation area when coming from the east that included traveling on Greg Hill Road. I missed one of the turns so we ended up going a different way. On my first bike ride, I rode by Greg Hill Road. It was a gravel road and it looked challenging but I decided to attempt to ride up the road on my bike on the return part of my first bike ride. I started up the hill in my front middle chain ring, was struggling and then a Jeep came up behind me. As the road wasn't wide and mostly the middle was relatively smooth I decided to step off the bike. The Jeep turned into a driveway before passing me but by that time my fate was sealed. I wasn't getting back on because I had lost my courage and because of the steepness. So I walked until the road was flatter with flies swarming my head. I thought I might attempt the hill another day now that I understood how challenging it was and I would start out on my small front ring. That thought faded over time to the point it was no longer a real possibility. But, the world had other ideas.
I started out a ride to Cooksburg one day; my planned route was 17+ miles out using only Millstone Brook and Clarion River roads and then 13+ miles on the return trip that offered a more direct route between two points along the river. As I started out on Millstone road, the local public works crew was regrading the road. No one from the crew was preventing traffic from using the road in that direction. But when I got down to the bottom, there was a public works truck diverting traffic from using Millstone Road in the opposite direction. I was hoping that the regrading would be finished when I was coming back and I would be able to travel the road on my return trip. Unfortunately, on my return from Cooksburg, the public works crew were still diverting traffic from Millstone Road. So my best choice at that point was to add a few more miles to my trip and try to ride up Greg Hill Road. I was able to bike up the hill with immense struggle but it was one of those cases where I needed to lean forward on the bike to keep the front wheel on the ground when initiating a power stroke. I was glad I made it but it wasn't that satisfying since I had already crossed riding up the hill off my to do list. In addition, due to the awkward front leaning position required to maintain front wheel ground contact, my right hip wasn't that happy in certain positions for the next couple of days. In summary I don't recommend traveling Greg Hill Road like the national forest website suggests unless your in a passenger vehicle or pickup truck. Instead use Route 899 to Clarington, get on and stay on the river Road there until you get to Millstone Road until you reach Loleta Recreation Area.
After our stay in Loleta, we will be going back to family stays until our trip out west to Colorado, which will probably be around the beginning of September.
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