Want to unwind and get away from it all? If you’re looking for a change of scenery and a change of pace, head for one of our area’s local hiking trails.

Hiking is a nearly perfect recreational activity. It offers an opportunity to explore nature and enjoy the beauty of the countryside with friends, family, or alone. Hiking is a low cost activity and provides great opportunities to exercise at your own pace. Best of all, hiking is a year-round activity—with the wise exception of hunting season. Winter, spring, summer or fall—each season brings something new to discover, learn about, and photograph on local trails.

Providing public access to protected lands and providing trail stewardship are two interests of The Merrill W. Linn Land and Waterways Conservancy. The Conservancy has created and maintains four hiking trails—Dale’s Ridge Trail, Koons Trail, Shamokin Mountain Trail, and Merrill Linn Trail—within the organization’s Central Pennsylvania service area of Union County and Upper Northumberland County.

Dale’s Ridge Trail is perhaps the best known and most popular of the Conservancy’s trails. It is located on the 137-acre Dale/Engle/Walker property along Strawbridge Road off Route. 192 between Lewisburg and Buffalo Cross Roads. Dale’s Ridge is a geologically significant site, situated at the heart of the syncline that defines Buffalo Valley. The two-mile trail, which rises 160 feet above Buffalo Creek, offers breath-taking views of Buffalo Valley. The trail includes a variety of habitats—the Buffalo Creek floodplain, a mature hardwoods forest, a pond, and fields in various stages of ecological succession. These habitats are home to 30 species of trees, 67 different wildflowers, and six fern species. More than 48 species of birds have been sighted.

Access to the trail is from the parking area along Strawbridge Road on the south side of Buffalo Creek. A brochure with a trail map and detailed information is available at the kiosk located in the parking lot.

Koons Trail is located on a 28-acre conservation easement held by the Conservancy and donated by Mary Koons, Mifflinburg business owner and life-long resident of the County. The trail is a one-mile-loop that covers woodlands and open fields bordering Buffalo Creek near the Hassenplug Covered Bridge in Mifflinburg. In season Koons Trail is home to a variety of birds from the Great Blue Heron and American Woodcock to Song Sparrow and House Wren. Early spring brings an abundance of wildflowers. An easy walk, ideal for beginners, younger children, and older adults, Koons Trail is accessed from the Harry Haney Ball Park parking lot on North Eighth Street in Mifflinburg. Stop at the trail kiosk for a brochure with a trail map, illustrations of the trail’s flora and fauna, and more detailed information.

Shamokin Mountain Trail near Winfield winds through private property and a portion of Pennsylvania State Game Land Number 193. This geologically and biologically significant area is comprised of meadows and second growth forests of mixed hardwoods and hemlocks. Shrub thickets provide cover for prairie warblers, bluebirds, turkeys, and deer. A view to the north frames Buffalo Valley against Nittany Mountain, while the south view offers vistas of Dry Valley and ridges as far south as Big Mountain. To reach the trail drive south from Lewisburg on Stein Lane. Travel 1.1 miles past Furnace Road to the top of a hill. Turn left onto Forest House Lane and proceed approx. 0.3 miles to the trail head.

Merrill Linn Trail, the most secluded of the Conservancy trails, is located in the Mohn Mill Pond area of Bald Eagle State Forest in northwestern Union County. The one-mile loop is an easy walk through a hardwood forest of red oak, red maple, and hemlock. Scattered throughout the area are vernal pools ringed by sphagnum moss and cinnamon ferns. These pools, recently identified as pingo scars, are believed to be created by the melting of large subsurface mounds of Pleistocene ice about 10,000 years ago. The area is home to a spectacular concentration of plants and animals.

To reach the trail, take Route 80 west from Route 15 to the Mile Run exit (#29). Turn left at the end of the exit ramp and then right at the first stop sign onto Sugar Valley Narrows Road. Take the first right onto Zimmerman Road. Travel three miles to Mohn Mill Road. Turn right and travel one mile to the Mid-State Trail marked with orange blazes. Walk to the right past the first trailhead to the second head of the Linn Trail, marked by blue blazes. While, the Linn Trail is an easy walk, the mountain roads accessing the trail may not be suitable for all vehicles.

The Conservancy trails are maintained by hardworking volunteer site stewards. Conscientious users travel only on foot and leave nothing behind but their footsteps.