Trout Run

Trout Run Conservation Area is oddly placed near the Robinson Township shopping mall conglomeration, right by a busy trailhead for the Montour Trail. It's a spot I'd never thought of as a great place to experience nature. I thought it might be fun to check it out, so I went two days ago.

For social distancing purposes during this pandemic, I don't think I could possibly have done better. As far as I know, I had the entire 88 acre park to myself. The tiny parking area is good for probably no more than 5 cars. It was empty except for me, and I saw no one. (If the parking area is full, the Montour Trail's large parking area can be used as overflow parking.) It's located on Hookstown Grade Rd. just north of Montour Run Rd.

The trail is a loop with a long side trail that looks to be about as long as the loop itself. So one could triple the length of the hike by taking the side trail out and back. I only hiked the loop. I found it very difficult at times to find the trail. I eventually figured out that the trail is marked occasionally with orange blazes. There were many small pink marking flags staked in the ground, and trees marked with pink flagging tape, which were much easier to spot. However they sometimes followed the trail and sometimes didn't, so they were intended for some other purpose. The trail appears to be lightly used and is often concealed by leaf litter.

I could always tell which direction I was going, but lost the trail a couple of times. Unfortunately, the trail winds up a very steep hill through a series of switchbacks, and I figured the trail must be the one sure way to safely navigate the hillside. It was a bit confusing to stay on course.

The trail is certainly quite steep, and wasn't especially spectacular. It goes beside Trout Run for a while, and there are a few native wildflowers blooming there. But once the trail begins to climb, the only native wildflowers in evidence are bluets. I didn't hear many birds.  The real draw here is Trout Run, which can be found right next to the parking area. It's a lovely habitat for creek critters, with lots of flat rocks. I did not find salamanders but found many strange insect larvae. If you enjoy puttering about with a magnifying lens and peering under rocks (and who doesn't??), this is a great place to do that! 

Cutleaf toothwort.

Spring azure butterfly. 

Coltsfoot (a nonnative, and one of the earliest spring blooming wildflowers).

Spring beauty.

A tiny Mayapple sprout.

Early saxifrage.

Bluets.

Bluets.

Smooth rockcress.

Weird vivid red filaments growing on the creek bank. What??

Spiny crawler mayfly.

Spiny crawler mayfly.

Spiny crawler mayfly.

Isn't it cute? Most mayflies have 3 tails, and this one has two, but I think it resembles a cookie headed mayfly.