View Full Version : Mid State Trail Resupply Points
stranger
06-12-2009, 05:08
Would be interested in hearing about possible resupply points long the Mid State Trail, just picked up the guide but it doesn't seem to have any off trail information.
So where do you resupply?
Assuming you mean the Mid State Trail in PA (http://www.hike-mst.org) - there was a table in the out of print 10th edition guide that didn't get carried forward to the current 11th edition due to volunteer time constraints on getting the guidebook out. The MST website has a place holder for downloading the table but it's not on there yet. I've forwarded the inquiry to someone in the know, but honestly many things do take some time in an all volunteer group. I or others on here might be able to help with specific location/needs/timeframe identified, in the meantime. Sure wish I had a better answer.
The Solemates
06-12-2009, 13:34
state college is an obvious choice for one. its a quick 5 min hitch into town from where the trail crosses.
OK, I scanned in the table from the old 10th edition (2001). It's attached, scroll down.
Here are some comments arranged south to north based on my knowledge:
Flintstone, MD is just over the border from the end of MST - the one or two cars you might see at the southerly crossing of PA 326 are probably going there. Has a PO (21530), general store with beer, diner, and Mennonite deli/grocery in case you want to stock up on quart bottles of Dr. Bronner's.
Everett is the largest town directly on MST, maybe 1.5x the size of Duncannon, and just about as prosperous. In addition to the services mentioned, there is also a Sheetz directly on trail as it crosses the old Lincoln Highway/Business US 30; and east on Business 30, two (yes, 2) old-timey hardware stores within 2 blocks, the mentioned Original Italian Pizza which I can't really recommend, but if you do go there the Rite Aid pharmacy across the street is recommended :eek:; and a coin laundry 1/2 mile east of the MST crossing. Last beer for a long time NOBO as you next pass through a legally dry zone. Deb Dunkle of Dunkle Services notary (everyone knows her; for non-PA folks, a notary service is where you register a car, which is why) is the local volunteer manager of MST and might be a good person to look up if you need something.
Loysburg has a PO (16659) and last I knew the postmistress was a section maintainer. The referenced New Frontier restaurant is cheap and good.
The crossing of PA 26 south of Pine Grove Mills (named just to mess with the folks who confuse Pine Grove and Pine Grove Furnace on the A.T., this is yet a third different place) at Jo Hays Vista is probably the site mentioned as an easy hitch to State College, but for non-hitchers the city bus sometimes stops on the bottom of the hill. State College has an outfitter (http://www.appoutdoors.com/) downtown that ran EMS out of town :D, in addition to the usual accoutrements of a Big Ten football school.
Other possibilites to hitch in to S.C. would be off the short side trails to Shingletown Gap, and to the Seven Mountains Roadside Rest (US 322 westbound). The actual MST crossing of US 322 is probably the world's worst hitching point, take the side trail to the roadside rest.
Poe Valley State Park is presently closed for renovations, and might not reopen due to state budget woes. There is a tiny general store (not open every day) and PO in Coburn (16832) which is a long walk up Penns Creek from the MST crossing. About three more miles walking or more likely hitch will get you to Millheim which has a coin laundry and brewpub (http://www.elkcreekcafe.net/) soon to feature the Mid State Trail Ale to celebrate MST's 40th anniversary.
From the PA 45 crossing, rather than hitch into Woodward which has nothing but the PO that I can recall, heading east into Laurelton gets you to a small grocery just south on PA 235 from the PA 45 junction.
R.B. Winter State Park is also rumored to be on the chopping block.
There is nothing, absolutely nothing, not even an exit, at the I-80 crossing, although I suppose you could walk a couple of miles west and jump a fence to get to the vending machines at a rest area.
There's not much at the West Branch Susquehanna River crossing, but a restaurant, convenience store, and McDonald's in McElhattan over a mile off trail. Woolrich has the original Woolrich company store which might be considered a sort of outfitter, but I don't know that you could even count on buying a canister or Esbit tab there. If you hitch into Lock Haven there is a smaller but more genuine outfitter (http://www.rockriverandtrail.com/) but the town is pretty spread out. More compact is the borough of Jersey Shore in the other direction, which is about 3x as big as Duncannon (but less prosperous). Tom Bastian, who works 2nd shift at the state liquor store in Jersey Shore, is one of the most knowledgable trail people in the entire state but resists getting online.
Waterville is pretty small, the Waterville Hotel was legendary but has been sold and folks on other forums are already complaining about the new management. I think the store mentioned in the old guide might have closed.
Little Pine SP is another one on the chopping block. Here is a link to what the old guide insists on calling Happy Hectares (http://happyacresresort.net/).
Blackwell Hotel (http://www.blackwellhotel.com/) mentioned in the old guide is a bar with rooms, not bad food but kind of pricey. Absolutely nothing else, not even a PO, there.
MST has grown since the 10th edition.
Morris is a tiny crossroads but offers a campground with coin laundry 1/2 mile down a blazed side trail, another 1/4 mile to general store, PO (16938) just a little further, around the corner.
Can probably hitch to Wellsboro from either PA 287 crossing or from US 6, or probably even from other roads in between. Nice outfitter (http://www.wildasaphoutfitters.com/) and other stores including full grocery in the compact, genuinely gas-lit, downtown.
Antrim, 3/4 mile off trail, has a redneck bar but nothing else (not even a PO).
Hills Creek State Park (http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/hillscreek.aspx) north of US 6 is the only one on MST not slated for the chopping block, and its office is attended.
Might be able to hitch from the westernmost PA 49 encounter at the Cowanesque River bridge into Elkland with 2 grocery stores, Western Auto (yes, it 's still functioning and still says Western Auto above the door, 10 years after they all closed), and the cheap and good Ridge Runners Cafe on a side street. Nelson has a PO (16940) but nothing else. Likely OK hitch on Bliss Road into Lawrenceville (not to be confused with the Pittsburgh neighborhood), which has Brownies convenience store with pizza and beer nominally (and literally, just) over the border in Lindley, NY.
Following the orange blazes 14 miles into NY brings you to Addison, about the size of Everett, but trading one of the hardware stores for a Chinese restaurant. That's decidedly the end of trail for now, check back in a few months as the NY Finger Lakes Trail Conference has now well taken up the Great Eastern Trail cudgel.
Blue Sky II
06-13-2009, 01:30
Directly on the trail in the north are camp stores at Lake Hammond and at the Mtn Top Campground. Most camp stores around here are open from April to October. I've been in the Lake Hammond store, but not in the Mtn Top store.
stranger
06-24-2009, 00:04
Thanks for this!
There's not much at the West Branch Susquehanna River crossing, but a restaurant, convenience store, and McDonald's in McElhattan over a mile off trail. Woolrich has the original Woolrich company store which might be considered a sort of outfitter, but I don't know that you could even count on buying a canister or Esbit tab there.
Waterville is pretty small, the Waterville Hotel was legendary but has been sold and folks on other forums are already complaining about the new management. I think the store mentioned in the old guide might have closed.
Little Pine SP is another one on the chopping block. Here is a link to what the old guide insists on calling Happy Hectares (http://happyacresresort.net/).
I've got updated information on this area.
The convenience store in McElhattan has expanded into a truckstop with showers, laundry, and numerous grocery items. It's actually less than a mile (but more than a kilometer :D ) from the south end of the West Branch Susquehanna bridge and a side road and a sidewalk is beside the road for more than half that distance. One does have to pass the entrances to both the landfill and the paper mill that advertise McElhattan's presence for some distance to the northbound hiker.
The Woolrich Original #1 flagship/outlet store has a lot of clothing and footwear - not totally just "lifestyle" clothing, they also have a lot of wearable wicking stuff now - but limited hard goods. I didn't see any of canister, esbit tabs, or MST map and guide set there. There is no grocery store, not even a convenience store, in Woolrich itself. Clearly that market is in McElhattan across the river.
Happy Acres has a fairly large convenience/campground store, looks adequate for basic resupply during its open hours. The restaurant has been renovated and is even open Sundays, a chancy thing in rural PA. The trail crossing of SR 4001 is within tobacco spitting distance of the Happy Acres restaurant but the Little Pine State Park office is nearly a km away.
There will be no need to maildrop ordinary supplies to either Woolrich, or Little Pine SP (except maybe in the Happy Acres closed season, and they seem to be having renewed prosperity due to many gas drilling and pipeline crews in the area).
The Solemates
05-15-2011, 22:22
I've got updated information on this area.
The Woolrich Original #1 flagship/outlet store has a lot of clothing and footwear - not totally just "lifestyle" clothing, they also have a lot of wearable wicking stuff now - but limited hard goods. I didn't see any of canister, esbit tabs, or MST map and guide set there. There is no grocery store, not even a convenience store, in Woolrich itself. Clearly that market is in McElhattan across the river.
yes, but there is a stellar restaurant/deli that i have eaten at thrice now, and heartily recommend for a mid- (or end) hike meal.
yes, but there is a stellar restaurant/deli that i have eaten at thrice now, and heartily recommend for a mid- (or end) hike meal.
You mean the cafe attached to the store?
Spirit Walker
05-16-2011, 01:14
Is the hotel in Blackwell open again? When we were there last fall it was closed, and it was for sale last summer.
The Solemates
05-16-2011, 11:16
You mean the cafe attached to the store?
yes - good food and service
The Solemates
05-16-2011, 11:16
Is the hotel in Blackwell open again? When we were there last fall it was closed, and it was for sale last summer.
it was closed this past november
but i thought it was only a seasonal hotel...only open in the summer.
They used to definitely be open for hunting season. My understanding is that there was a sewage problem, which being my business I can certainly understand that they would have no real possibility of having a legally sized system without demolishing most of the rest of Blackwell to make room for it. We do miss it, it's actually not only a section dividing point but a region dividing point for MST, it was a little pricy but better than one would expect for being the only game in town. (For those tourists biking or driving Cedar Run, Slate Run, and even Morris are within reach, so the hikers aren't enough to keep it going by ourselves.)
Is the hotel in Blackwell open again?
Drove through today to check it out. Definitely not open, actually the building is starting to be overgrown. I didn't see any "coming soon" sign either. But the Blackwell Hotel sign remains to taunt the hungry, thirsty hiker.
A Google map of hiker services is now linked from the left navigation menu on http://www.hike-mst.org/ or directly from here (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=206244637217841813205.00046e998c04cce8eb9b 8&msa=0) if the link works. Some of the places listed on the map aren't in this thread, and vice versa.
The Solemates
07-20-2011, 11:31
A Google map of hiker services is now linked from the left navigation menu on http://www.hike-mst.org/ or directly from here (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=206244637217841813205.00046e998c04cce8eb9b 8&msa=0) if the link works. Some of the places listed on the map aren't in this thread, and vice versa.
very nice.
what about rocks, river & trails outfitter near lock haven. they arent too far from the trail.
i've used them as a shuttle twice now. rick is a great guy
WingedMonkey
07-20-2011, 21:33
A Google map of hiker services is now linked from the left navigation menu on http://www.hike-mst.org/ or directly from here (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=206244637217841813205.00046e998c04cce8eb9b 8&msa=0) if the link works. Some of the places listed on the map aren't in this thread, and vice versa.
That's a great planning tool/toy. I'll be emailing Dan with my thanks and a few additions.
Spirit Walker
07-20-2011, 23:07
An update re Blackwell. The hotel is definitely closed and unlikely to open, but there's a tiny shop that sells soda chips and ice cream across the street. Not good for resupply, but worth a stop if you want a snack.
That's a great planning tool/toy. I'll be emailing Dan with my thanks and a few additions.
I e-mailed him too. He just thru-hiked the entire MST in June-July 2011. He said his intention was to supplement the (out of print for years but linked above) 10th edition resupply list, not replace it, which explains the coverage. He is someone with much else going on, so his e-mail to me indicated he's not sure if that would ever be updated to a completely comprehensive resource.
For those of you who are real LD hikers, is that Google Earth map a good format, or is something else preferred? (and if so, what?)
At long last an MST resupply list has been posted to the MST web site: http://www.hike-mst.org/TempGuides/MSTResupplyList_8-28-11.pdf linked from http://www.hike-mst.org/guide.html - including a comprehensive update to the old table adding Dan Styer's info and input from this thread. Further comments welcome.