Destination Thursday: Wolf Creek Narrows' Revolutionary History

Two miles west of the town of Slippery Rock (and very near yesterday's featured WPC Daily) Wolf Creek winds through a narrow, steep-walled gorge. The stream, towering 50-foot cliffs, mixed stands of mature trees on the bordering slopes, and spectacular displays of spring wildflowers and cool summer streamside habitats combine here to create exceptional scenery.

Both the gorge and the surrounding upland forest are protected as part of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy's 125-acre Wolf Creek Narrows Natural Area. The best way to admire this area's scenery is by taking a leisurely walk on The Narrows Trail.

The 1.5-mile trail leads a visitor upstream over level terrain to the point where the creek is pinched between rocky bluffs. The footpath then climbs the sloping shoulder of the gorge's eastern flank, meanders through a mature, upland deciduous forest, and descends back to Wolf Creek just upstream from the starting point.

In addition to its current natural beauty, the narrows also has an interesting past. Wolf Creek's steep gorge is thought to have been a cave whose ceiling was quickly eroded by the runoff of a melting glacier. The natural area property is part of an original American revolution-era land grant. Although the area has been the site of scattered logging activity before Conservancy acquisition, it had been owned and preserved by only three families since the late 18th century.

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