The Allegheny Front Trail (AFT) is a roughly 41.5-mile loop around Black Moshannon State Park through Moshannon State Forest, made for a multi-day backpacking trip: most hikers need 5 to 6 days for the whole loop, but shorter trips are possible using connecting trails and forestry roads. It is marked with yellow blazes (double blazes mean a change in direction); the two main cross-connectors are the Shingle Mill Trail and the Moss-Hanna Trail.
The AFT follows old logging and haul roads, state forest roads, other hiking trails and Native American paths, with fantastic vistas in the southeast and northeast. It crosses steep hillsides and valleys, wetlands, mixed forest, thick rhododendron and streams, some without bridges, so be prepared to get wet. Look for its logging past along the way: old splash dams, huge white pine stumps, and the foundations of old camps and the Plume Forge. Mileage markers along the trail help with trip planning.
About 41.5 miles · Most Difficult · Yellow blazes · Moshannon State Forest and Black Moshannon State Park. Trail data: PA DCNR Explore PA Trails.
Photo: Nicholas A. Tonelli, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.