Allegheny National Forest — Attraction in Sheffield Township

I'm in these woods often. All year. My purpose? To simply escape absolutely everything. No phone reception, No technology, Nothing modern, Nothing convenient. It's literally just you and nature. I follow the buddy system, always have a few back up plans for communication, ect. Sleep all day, wait for Big Foot all night, yeah, this is the life! Best part is NOTHING MODERN. I've learned to tell time based on the sun and moon, identify sounds, cook eggs on an open fire, purification of water, and so much more. When the world becomes a burden and all you want is to escape, this is the place to do it. No clocks, No phones, just you and whatever makes your heart sing. For me it's Sunset til Sunrise. PA has a lot of Forests, this is the only one I'm willing to review because as I said, I don't go to be found, I go to escape time, people, demand, and everyday life in general. I Love PA forests. Spent mother's day weekend in the forest. 2022. Cleaned up a lot of broken glass, beer cans and much more. We assumed the dumpsters at the Warren exit were for the forest, they aren't. So if you do clean up other people's messes leave the trash bag at the site and let the ranger know, or take it with your own trash. There has to be an easier way to do the right thing!! Other than that it was fun, rained a lot but was still fun. There isn't as many forest animals as there typically is, that part was unfortunate because part of the enjoyment is watching the animals. There's also a vast amount of...

They should rename this place to the Allegheny Industrial Forest. I grew up visiting this place a lot when I was a kid and loved it. You could hike for days without seeing a soul, drink water directly from the mountain streams, and take in deep breaths of air without coughing up a lung. All that has changed recently with the installation of over 500 gas wells and related equipment. A lot of large portions of the forest are now dotted with these green gas wells and black rubber hoses that leak natural gas everywhere. You cant go to very many places in the forest without the lingering smell of natural gas. I camped up here recently near Warren PA and had to relcoate in the middle of the night because the odors were so strong. If you walk around you will see these cheap rubber hoses just lying on the forest floor hissing away and water with an oily surface haze in it freely flowing out of well heads. I'm all for using our natural resource to heat our homes but the enforcement of environmental rules are absolutely non-existent in the gas fields of the Allegheny National Forest. If you want to camp in an industrial wasteland than this place is...

I love the Allegheny National Forest, that's why I live here. This part of the country actually has four seasons, even though people who haven't been anywhere else don't think so! We are currently in spring with summer nipping at it's heels. The hillsides are multiple shades of green. The birds are singing and busy building nests... Robins everywhere. Bees buzzing along flower to flower. And speaking of flowers! Bushes, shrubs and trees are blooming along with iris, forget-me-nots, peonies, violets and lily of the valley. Summer will bring more of the same with more heat, 80-97 degrees, and new flowers. Autumn (my favorite) cools things down and the hillsides change to amazing shades of yellow, orange and red with forrest green pines mixed in against brilliant blue skies. Smells of leaves and ripe fruit in the crisp air. I could go on and on! Then comes winter with everything blanketed in pristine white snow and Jack Frost nipping at your nose.... and occasionally ripping off your hat and taking away your breath with...