Destination Thursday: Test Out A New Walking Bridge at Wolf Creek Narrows

There's a great one-mile looping trail just outside of Slippery Rock, Pa. that winds below steep cliffs, beside beautiful small waterfalls, and along a high-quality stream with an interesting glacial history. The loop was incomplete, however, until a small, but very effective, volunteer team put together a new trail bridge this past October at Wolf Creek Narrows. The trail takes visitors along the Narrows and through a mature hardwood forest. The new trail bridge came to fruition thanks to a wonderful volunteer combination of time, equipment and materials. A special thanks to WPC Volunteer Land Stewards Richard Liberto and Aaron Heimberger, volunteer Matt Smuts and North Country Trail Association representative Bob Tait.

Western Pennsylvania Conservancy began its land protection efforts at the Wolf Creek Narrows in 1979 and completed acquisition in 1982 bringing the total land under protection to 115 acres. The land was once part of a land grant given to a veteran of the Revolutionary War and remained in the possession of his descendants until the Conservancy acquired the property. With the exception of limited logging of the upper slopes in 1900, the owners restricted land use and the forest was allowed to mature to its current state.

It is believed that the steep, narrow gorge of Wolf Creek was once a cave whose ceiling was eroded by runoff from a melting glacier. Wolf Creek Narrows gorge consists of a high quality stream meandering through towering 50-foot cliffs. Numerous springs pour from cracks in the steep walls, creating small waterfalls, which flow into Wolf Creek.

Key biological features seen along the trail include a mature forest of sugar maple and black cherry on the upper slopes and a virgin stand of northern hardwoods along the banks of the creek itself. The mixture of riparian and upland habitat provides nesting sites for many songbird species including the belted kingfisher ( Ceryle alcyon ), Louisiana waterthrush ( Seiurus motacilla ), red-eyed vireo ( Vireo olivaceus ), and wood thrush ( Hylocichla mustelina ). Small, isolated pockets of water along the flood plain of Wolf Creek provide breeding and nesting areas for wood frog ( Rana sylvatica ) and other amphibians.

Land Steward Richard Liberto took today's photo of Land Steward Aaron Heimberger working on the bridge. If you would like to volunteer for stewardship activities, including trail maintenance at Wolf Creek Narrows, please contact Tami Campbell at 412-586-2318.

Directions:
From the Slippery Rock exit of Interstate I-79, proceed east on Pa. Rt. 108 to Slippery Rock. At the light in town, turn left on Rt. 258. Go one block, turn left on Water Street and follow it for approximately 2.0 miles until it crosses Wolf Creek over an iron bridge. Cross the bridge and look for a small parking area at the head of a dirt lane on the left. Do not block the lane or park along the paved road. Walk back across the iron bridge. The trailhead is on the left side of the road just past the bridge.

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