Famous Reading Outdoors — Attraction in New Castle Township

FRO is awesome. 💯

You can ride single track on FRO properties for hours from one lot and still not hit it all. If you get bored with one area, try riding from a different lot, however, I’m willing to bet there’s probably more trails than you think in the areas around each lot. Some trails from each lot are mapped out on apps, but trying to figure them out by exploring is just as fun. There’s trails for all ability levels from all lots (Locust Gap, Darkwater, Burma), you just have to find what suits you best until you’re ready to venture onto harder terrain. There’s also a few local clubs and social media pages to connect with people who may be familiar/are getting familiar with trails and it’s fun to group up and put riding minds together to learn more. I ride all single track and then use haul roads to get reoriented or get back to a lot quickly if necessary. I don’t know what kind of grooming people expect on this amount of acreage or why people feel entitled to incredibly cheap day passes, but at $50 (or more) to ride a local track for one day that can be seen in its entirety from the top bench of bleachers, a yearly pass for FRO is more than reasonable. People have taken advantage of buying day passes when they were available and completely trashed the place. As a rider who appreciates riding in nature and not a dump, I’m glad FRO is protecting what we have. I’d add more pictures, but you’ll just have to find the best spots with your own blood, sweat, and tears. 😁 Have...

I live in rural Pottsville PA, not by area almost 3 miles away. The ATV noisy, dusty "run" being used 24/7, is in a residential area of Cass Township and a hell on Earth. For Duncott, Schaeffer's Hill and even Jonestown Cass Twp. residents, it's not uncommon to see and hear them or dirt bikes any time day or night! A loud dune buggy used by a nearby resident, I highly doubt it's registered. The coal mining refuse/rock bank height should have been left as it was, not lowered. I grew up in Duncott and Schaeffer's Hill and again live on latter. We NEVER had black coal dust on homes, cars, in rain buckets, bird baths or inside our houses or noses and lungs. Kicker: in Duncott we had coal heat! PA DEP and EPA, how much was it to allow Reading Company to do this? I have established, flowering Milkweed, but no more than 1 Monarch Butterfly 2023 and 2024, found it. None in 2022. Place motion activated cameras similar to those used by hunters, set to record motion and sound after 9 p.m. and you'll see it's all fact. Signs are posted, but all that they are, are basically sick jokes. Coming up to Schaeffer's Hill from Duncott, to the right is a new "road" or driveway leading to the worst offenders' yard. They use it any time, literally 24/7. I feel bad for neighbors with this all adjacent to their actual back yards and can't understand how this was legal. To those who are doing the worst of it: ever hear of Black Lung?...

FRO was once a great place to ride, but over the past few years the price has gone up and more trail systems and trails in general have been closed down. Sure, they added Tower City, which is great for dirtbikes, but they removed St. Kieran’s, The Flats, The Coal Hills, all the fun hillclimbs at Burma, and clear cut a bunch of trails that were once great.

Unfortunately since I ride dirtbikes more than ATV’s, there really isn’t much for those who trail ride in this state, so it’s basically FRO, AOAA, and Tower City Trail Riders. $225/year isn’t bad, but again, with all the removal of the good trails people have spent their time making (within the property limits), at least give us primitive camping with the yearly fee AND the option of day passes for those of us who can’t go out more than a few times a year.

Again, it WAS a great place to go before 2020, but now with all the clear-cut trails, it removes the exploratory side and allows all the wahoos that rip their $35,000 SXS and 4x4’s through the trails while drinking their 12-pack to almost hit people. It’s almost happened to my riding group and I numerous times at Ashland Mountain...