Fred Woods Trail — Attraction in Gibson Township

I never thought I'd feel this way about a trail but this trail sucks! Being that 90% of you will be going out your way to get to this trail ( I drove 2 hours away from Mansfield, PA) I'm tell you, you are wasting your precious time and gas for a super forgettable and regrettable hike.

By the time you finish this trail, your feet will hate you and be in agony. A walking stick is a must for senior and young children hikers. No trail running on this trail, you will most certainly roll your ankle or severely injure yourself on the awful rocks.

I found myself rather bored and unimpressed with the trail. The rock formations and vistas were major meh. The trail offered no challenge what so ever. If it wasn't for the rocks, I'd say this trail was perfect for beginner hikers or people who just want to casually stroll thru the forest.

The trail is well marked yet you are able to become lost if you aren't paying attention. I did have cell phone reception at certain parts on the trail.

Tons of brush, I recommend wearing hiking boots with crew socks. I wore trail running shoes with ankle socks, so much crap got into my shoes which was annoying. Taking my shoes off at the end was a huge relief.

Bugs weren't bad considering I did not spray myself with insect repellent before hand. At the vistas, I did get attacked by a few mosquitoes, flies, and bee's.

During my hike, the wildlife I encountered was a whitetail deer that nearly ran into me because it wasn't aware of it's surroundings lol, a hawk and quite a few other different birds and a garden snake.

Trail has no traffic. Arrived on a sunny summer Tuesday afternoon. My family and I were the only humans there.

Didn't see any trash on trail but did find some funky shorts next to a marked tree.

The rocky mountain you have to drive up to get to the trail was the best part...

This is a remote, quiet trail on a plateau outside Driftwood. I passed maybe a total of 20-25 people on the whole 4.5-mile loop. The trail itself is mostly flat and non-challenging, but the dirt road to access the trailhead is long, precarious steep drop offs on the side, and BARELY wide enough for 2 cars to pass eachother. I wouldn't recommend taking this road in winter.

The overlooks are pretty nice, and some of the rock formations are interesting, but as another reviewer mentioned, 90% of the trail is flat, plain old woods that get monotonous to hike through after a while. Plus, it's REALLY in the middle of nowhere, so you gotta be committed to visit it.

The trail is also fairly buggy, so I recommend bringing some...

The trail was a nice surprise. We had to drive about 6 miles of dirt road (we discovered there is another way that is only 3 miles) but it was worth it. The hike ended up being about 4.5 miles including the .75 mile trail to the loop. The trail was well maintained and mostly level. It took us a little less than two hours, but we did not hang out very long at all at either of the two vistas that offered great views of the valley below. One note, there are plenty of roots and rocks, so wear hiking boots and step high. Also some mosquitos when we went, so may need...