Last fall I spent two days camping in the Allegany National Forest, which is south of Salamaca, NY and west of Bradford, PA. Two days in mid-November provided a limited time to explore the area, in part due to the short days between sunrise and sunset, requiring me to back to camp no later then about 3:30 PM in the afternoon to gather wood and prepare for the coming sunset at 5 PM.
Throughout the Allegenheny National Forest there are many truck trails that pass oil and gas wells, provide access to timber stands used for logging, and also access to hunters, fishermen, hikers, and camping. Most of the forest is not mature stands of trees, and indeed the whole area has a very working-forest nature to it, by no means is it wilderness.
Camping is allowed along all of the dirt roads except for roads specifically designated scenic byways. It is strongly discouraged by that vehicle travel off the roads any further then neccessary to prevent erosion. Dotted along the roads are places where people have camped in the past, in fields and other desirable places. Campsites are very primative, and have only rock fire places left by previous users.
I camped off of Forest Service Road 154, quite a ways above the Allegeheny Reservior. It was a decent little site, pretty far back, and nice and hard, so I need not worry about sinking into the ground. I also felt wildfire danger was lower this time of year, as there was not the dry grass here, and the leaves where damp from dew.
I strung a line out to hang up the Christmas lights I used for ambiance and background lighting at night, and built a campfire in the firepit. I was moving stuff between the cab and the back of the truck when I took this picture.
Inside my camping rig when I was camping up there.
In the evening, watching the sun set, a little after 5 pm…
There are many things to see at Allegheny National Forest (all free) from the Rim Rock to views from Jakes Rocks to the views of Reservior. There probably was much more I could have seen had I spent more time camping up there.
… I hope you enjoyed this brief look back from my experiences camping up at the Allegheny National Forest in November 2010.
