Vistas of Joe Palooka Mountain-Pinchot State Forest

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Joe Palooka Mountain is located in the Pinchot State Forest and features several fine views of the Wyoming Valley, including a long, exposed meadow with nonstop views.  Old forest roads and ATV trails lead to some of the vistas.  There are plans to construct a formal hiking trail.

From the trailhead, simply follow the old gated road as it traverses the side of the mountain above PA 309.  Pass two ATV trails to the right; the second will be your return route (if you only want to see the views at the top of the mountain, you can also just hike up the second trail).  Continue on the old road as it descends and veers right.  Off to your left, off trail, are some rock outcrops, huge diagonal slabs of bedrock.  I hiked out to them for some nice views.  The old road continues behind a larger rock outcrop, which has the better view.  You can just climb to the top of it.

I continued on the old road, but it faded out.  I simply headed east through the open woods to a long meadow. All of the forests on this hike are open hardwoods with brush in places. I reached the meadow, and hiked up it, enjoy the expansive views.  As i reached the top, the views got better.  I could see Bald and Miller Mountains.  An ATV trail was nearby, but I continued on the ridge to a final vista.  I then hiked out the short distance to the ATV trail and hiked it down to complete the loop.  From there, I returned to my car.

The vistas and long meadow makes this hike worthwhile.  The large diagonal slabs of rock that are off trail are also very interesting and offer fine views.  This hike is about 2.5 miles long.  I parked at 41.196657, -75.887994.  

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For the map above: Red is off trail. Yellow are unblazed ATV trails or old forest roads.

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I explored the Pinchot State Forest from the Joe Palooka trailhead. I was completely impressed by this semi urban hike outside of Wilkes Barre. Non stop views from exposed ledges, slanted bedrock slabs, and an awesome meadow ridgewalk. Lots of cool rock outcrops. I could see for 20 to 30 miles. And Joe Palooka is the best name for a trailhead (see last photo).

A post shared by Jeff Mitchell-Outdoors Author (@hiking_mitch) on Nov 23, 2019 at 11:51am PST