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Little Flat Tower and Shingletown Gap
Little Flat Tower and Shingletown Gap Last week's column introduced the lookout tower at Little Flat. If you explored that hike using the road access, you probably noticed some trails. There are eight different trails that you can use to reach the lookout tower. The trails have been numbered on the adjacent map and summary descriptions follow. 1: Rothrock State Forest does have an official parking lot located on Bear Meadows Road. Look for the parking sign on the left as you enter state forest land. From here you can follow the paved road to the first bridge and bear right on the old railroad grade. It is blazed in blue. You'll cross Laurel Run Road and continue to a trail intersection with Lonberger Path (8) and Spruce Gap Trail (2). 2: Spruce Gap Trail heads straight up the mountain to the Mid-State Trail and the lookout tower. It is relentlessly steep and often loose. At times, the right hand side drops off sharply. In the name of training, masochistic endurance athletes like to sprint up this with heavy packs. Daredevil mountain bikers descend with reckless abandon. It's not an easy trail but is the most direct path to the top of the mountain. 3: Another blue- blazed trail intersects near the base of Spruce Gap Trail. Local hikers call this Three Bridges Trail because there are three wooden bridges over the stream crossings. It is a pleasant trail with good footing and little elevation gain. It connects to a switchback on Laurel Run Road and is a nice alternative to walking the road. 4: Old Laurel Run Road Trail has two entrances from Laurel Run Road; one at the switchback and another a few hundred yards up the road. The blue blazes continue from the Three Bridges Trail. This trail is basically a straight line path that traverses the mountainside and reaches the dirt road to the tower. 5: This blue blazed trail connects Shingletown Gap with the tower. It's easy to find by parking at the yellow gate along Laurel Run Road. 6: The Mid-State Trail follows the ridgetop and crosses Laurel Run Road at the top of the mountain. It follows an abandoned railroad grade and connects to the dirt road which leads to the tower. The Mid-State Trail continues south from the tower following the ridge. 7: A few hundred yards from the tower, along the Mid-State Trail, is the Cool Springs Trail on the right. It is well marked with a sign. This trail winds through dense mountain laurel as it follows an old telephone line to Laurel Run Road. The trail is very eroded in places and can be a challenging hike but I like the remote bushwhacking feeling it offers. 8: The Lonberger Path is used to access Spruce Gap Trail (3). The Lonberger Path continues to North Bear Meadows Road. You can create a variety of hikes to reach the tower by using the road and trail system. It is hard to rate these trails because your individual fitness level determines personal difficulty. What may be a challenging hike for some is a training run for others. My advice is to explore these trails individually until you are comfortable with the lay of the land. A word of caution concerning weather: The tower is 1,000 feet above the valley floor. The temperature drops an average of three degrees per thousand feet and in some cases much more. It can be snowy and windy at the tower, yet calm and sunny in the valley. |
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