Saturday May 16th 2026 - Panther Run, David Lewis Loop -Quehanna Wild Area (Central PA) - 7.1 miles, 430 feet elevation gain

It was a little warm by the time we got to this trail.  This 'state forest wild area' is the largest in Pennsylvania at over 50 thousand acres spanning 3 counties.  I'm not sure what exactly differentiates a state forest wild area from a normal state forest.  The largest state forest in PA is astonishingly large at 300 thousand acres.  The Quehanna Wild Area is a fascinating and under-visited area.  The drive through (on th Quehanna highway) is exhilarating with lots of curves and dips and very little traffic.  It was previously home to a number of defense industry research areas including a small nuclear reactor.  This hike actually started just off of 'Reactor Road' which led to that, now completely demolished, nuclear reactor.

The variety of scenery along this loop trail was phenomenal.  There were areas that were very dry and even semi-arid feeling but also wet and muddy areas.  The vegetation varied a lot from mostly hardwoods in some areas to mostly evergreens in another.  Some areas had the kind of very large rocks that were much more common in PA and NJ than where we live now but others had almost no rocks at all.  Overall this was one of the more interesting and varied hikes we've done in a while.