by Jeff Stockdale The West Rim Trail is a 30.5 mile trail located along the west rim of Pine Creek Gorge, "The Pennsylvania Grand Canyon", in the Tioga State Forest of north central Pennsylvania. It picks up outside the small town of Wellsboro, home of George Washington Sears, pen name “Nessmuk,” an early environmentalist/writer whose stories first appeared in Forest and Stream magazine (of which Field and Stream acquired in 1930) in in the 1880’s. Portions of the trail follow old logging roads and railroad grades left over from the 19th century. There are numerous campsites, located either in laurel-lined vistas overlooking the gorge or deep in hollows along the Allegheny mountain streams.Be sure to pick up a copy of Chuck Dillon’s Guide to the West Rim Trail, which provides details about the geology of the places and the legendary tales of their founding. In his highlighting of Barbour Rock, we learn of Samuel Barbour, a logger who lost his life after unpinning a log jam; and at Dead Man Hollow, where a trapper was found in his own trap after the spring thaw.Look: Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources' West Rim Trail Map