Sand Spring in Shingletown Gap

Magic still flows at Sand Spring
By Michael Hermann, Lizard Tracks, Centre Daily Times, 5-3-99

Sand Spring is the headwaters of Roaring Run in Shingletown Gap. It flows out of Rothrock State Forest through Shingletown and under route 45 to join Slab Cabin Run. It meets Spring Creek and continues to the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

We have become desensitized to the precious nature of water. We take it for granted everyday even though we would quickly die without it. It flows from at least two or three reliable sources in our homes and as many as dozens, if not hundreds, of sources in our offices and apartment complexes. Virtually every convenience store sells water even though it is available for free elsewhere.

Children delight in reciting the tale of “Jack and Jill went up the hill, to get a pail of water”, but the concept is as foreign to us as hunting for our next meal.
Sand Spring is a magical place. I like to imagine it as it might have looked 500 years ago; when the Europeans were still vague as to where the American Continent even was. Before the colonization, the logging, before private land boundaries, before a blazed trail violated its border. The trees may have been so tall and dense that sunlight would barely reach the forest floor. I suspect this spring was even more magical, if not sacred, at a time when water meant more to people than it does now.

Today the spring bubbles into a sandy pool surrounded by mossy banks and shade giving trees. The sandy pool must have been there when the first maps were drawn; when places needed specific names and Sand Spring was the simple descriptive name. Other springs without sandy pools took on names like Rock Spring, or Chestnut Spring, to reflect their surroundings.

The very cold water of Sand Spring appears as crystal clear as one could hope. In today’s climate of environmental destruction we assume the water is tainted, and it may be, but I still drink from it for the experience.

I wonder what it was like in year 1500, surrounded by thick vegetation unspoiled by human economy. I imagine the centuries of deer paths that led to this life giving water source. I wonder how many mountain lions and wolves stopped here for a drink; animals that had never seen a human being.
Native Americans were the first to understand its sacred beauty. European Americans shared that respect, at first, but they viewed the spring as an economic resource to power various mills downstream. Then the mountains were logged with a violence that had no foresight or environmental consciousness. They gave no thought to wether the forest would ever recover to the stage of growth it had achieved through centuries of simply being left alone.

Nature is the most forgiving entity. The forest has recovered today largely due to its own tenacity. It has recieved a lot of help from the state foresters who manage it responsibly. Although Sand Spring is a very different place now it is still a beautiful place. The forest has changed around the spring and the mountain lions and wolves have been killed off. The Native American population has been replaced with about a hundred thousand people who live within a twenty mile radius of the spring. Most of this population doesn’t know where their life-giving springs are and only a handful have ever seen Sand Spring.

Sand Spring Trail is not fun to hike. Luckily, it isn’t the main trail you’ll use to find Sand Spring. The easiest approach is from the trailhead on Laurel Run Road. A short hike (under a mile) into Shingletown Gap will bring you to an old cabin foundation; all that remains standing is part of the stone fireplace. The blue blazed trail that goes uphill on the right is Sand Springs Trail but you won’t find a sign on this part of it. Sand Spring itself is about a hundred yards uphill.

Jean Aron has just released a new version of her popular book, The Short Hiker. This one is subtitled Small Green Circles, taken from one of her lovely poems. She offers more insights to this magical place in chapters six and seven on Shingletown Gap and Sand Spring Trail.

When you go: From State College take Rt. 322 to Tussey Mountain Ski Area. Follow Bear Meadows Road into Rothrock State Forest. The first right is Laurel Run Road. Follow this to a small parking area and gate on the right which marks the upper entrance to Shingletown Gap. A wooden sign will point you in the right direction. You’ll walk by a fenced area that is being replanted by the foresters; be aware the fence is electric. The trail will split soon after the fence; bear right and you’ll reach the old fireplace in a few minutes. Sand Spring is a hundred yards uphill on the right; the trail is blazed in blue.

Michael Hermann is the creator of the Purple Lizard Recreational Map of State College and has been exploring local trails since 1979. He can be reached at www.purplelizard.com.