Ritchie Road

Trail Overview

Ritchie Road is primarily a graded gravel road with sections of dirt on the southern end. It is an easy ride in the summer months, however, there is no winter maintenance. During times of rain, snow, and ice, the road can become rutted and harder to travel on. Ritchie Road is within Sproul State Forest. You can access the Hyner Run State Park from Ritchie Road.

Photos of Ritchie Road

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Difficulty

Ritchie Road is an easy ride in the summer months, however, there is no winter maintenance. During times of rain, snow, and ice, the road will become harder to travel on. It can become washed out and rutted in the spring thaw and rainy seasons. There can be water in the ruts, and they will become slick and muddy especially on the southern part of the road, where it is a dirt surface.

History

Whetham Fire Tower is a sixty-foot steel tower and was built in 1923, and takes its name from John D. Whetham, a pioneer settler and lumberman of this region. Whetham is also the name of the nearest Pennsylvania railroad station to this tower, and was at one time the western terminus of this railroad. Whetham, about the time of the Civil War, was a thriving lumber center and produced a large number of rafts of White Pine timber, which was used for the main masts of sailing vessels of that period. The tower is on Sugar Camp ridge overlooking Rattlesnake run and is reached by automobile from Renovo via the state road to Hyner, thence by township road along the river to Whetham. At this point, the tourist may cross the railroad and follow the road along Rattlesnake Run about three-quarters of a mile, then cross Rattlesnake Run and proceed to the tower by the left-hand Sugar Camp road, a distance of about four miles. The Whetham tower has a ground elevation of about 2,240 feet, and from its cabin, can be seen ridge after ridge of typical Northern Pennsylvania wooded landscape. There is no better hunting country in the state than in the region of this tower. Drinking water can be obtained a short distance down the trail to the north of the tower.

Technical Rating

Ritchie Road can be accessed by the following ride types:

• High-Clearance 4x4
• SUV