The Pennsylvania Game Commission will open the Stony Valley Rail Trail to motor vehicles on Sunday, Oct 12, for the annual State Game Lands Driving Tour.
It’s one of several driving tours throughout the commonwealth that are open to motorists each autumn.
The Stony Valley Tour runs through State Game Lands 211, an area covering more than 44,000 acres in Dauphin, Lebanon, and Schuylkill counties. The 17-mile trail begins at the Ellendale Forge gate, six miles east of Dauphin Borough on Stony Valley Road in Dauphin County, and ends at the Gold Mine gate.
It is open to motorists from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The journey, barring stops, should last around two hours.
The tract has an abandoned railroad bed traversing the entire game lands from west to east. The Appalachian and Horse-Shoe trails run through the game lands, providing excellent opportunities for hiking and other recreational opportunities in addition to hunting. The area was called St. Anthony’s Wilderness by the original Moravian settlers, and and at one time the towns of Cold Springs and Rausch Gap sat in the area along the Schuylkill & Susquehanna Railroad, which first cleared the trail bed. Ruins of these settlements can still be found in the woods, including a cemetery and a hotel.
Game Commission personnel will be stationed along the tour route to provide site-specific information and answer questions.
This is a free, rain-or-shine event.
Another nearby tour through State Game Lands #110, which offers over 10,000 acres of wildlife habitat in Berks and Schuylkill counties, begins at the Mountain Road gate, approximately 5 miles west of Hamburg Borough, and goes through to the Route 183 gate, 4 miles north of Strausstown.
In addition to hunting opportunities, the historic Appalachian Trail runs through the game lands paralleling much of the driving tour. This forested ridge is an important corridor along the Kittatinny Ridge that tens of thousands of hawks use every fall to migrate south along their migration route.
Read More: Appalachian Trail’s stretch through Lebanon County is small but special
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