Penn's Woods

[ColoradoKid]

We are thinking of touring this summer around the northern part of PA. Starting in Wellsboro, going south on the Grand Canyon trail then heading west.(along the river) The problem is after Renvo, it's all hills. We are planning to make a loop route trip so I was thinking of going north (to Ridgeway/St. Mary's) but I am unsure of how bad the hills get. Has anyone rode in that area and if so, how is the route?

[staehpj1]

I have driven it and I think it was pretty hilly, but it was years ago so my memory isn't to be trusted.  I would recommend checking it out with one of the online tools like mapmyride, biketoaster, or whatever other tool that can generate elevation change numbers and profiles.  Be sure to map it in smallish sections or you will lose some of the ups and downs and it will look flatter than it is.

[tandem]

We rode some of this route several years ago on the tandem. From Renova take RT 144 south, there is a good climb out of Renova and then levels out to RT879 just before Moshannon. There are two side trips you could take from Rt144 and view West Branch Susquehanna river,Yost Ridge Rd and Fields Ridge Rd both are Forest Service Rd and are not paved. Take RT879 to Karthaus and then turn right on Quehanna Hwy to Benezette. There will be another climb from Karthaus to Piper,about two miles and then levels with some long down to Rt555. It may be worth side trip into Benezette to view elk heard. We rode RT255 to St Marys another two mile climb and then headed west to Ridgeway and north on RT948 through the Allegheny Nat Forest. We connected with RT6 in Sheffield and kept going west. If you turned east RT6 would bring you back to Wellsboro. Food and water stops were limited and traffic was light.