Oil Creek State Park: 6.5-Mile North Loop

Oil Creek State Park seemed almost...majestic…from high up on the Gerard Trail, where it followed  the eastern valley wall in the winter.  Our aim was maybe a little too ambitious.  We were going to camp out at the Wolfkiel Shelter Area in 10 degree temps.  This time my companion was an old former backpacking buddy from previous times, a fellow clergyman who hadn’t been out on the trails in three years. As the night grew closer and the weather got worse, we found ways to talk ourselves into a simple day hike, coupled with a night at my place nearby—tucked into warm beds. It totally defeated the purpose of the trip, which was to camp out in the cold with a bright, crackling fire in our shelter. But it was good, maybe even good enough.

This friend? He doesn’t impress easily. You take him to beautiful overlooks, or river gorges, or quaint little towns, all he can say is, “Huh.” He just doesn’t really take an interest in things—aside from music and ideas. How do you move to Pittsburgh from Texas and never research the place where you’re taking your young family? He took a job here, moved here, bought a nice house, and settled into the local music scene—to a degree—but he couldn’t find Pittsburgh on a map, much less the nearby places where we hike. He always, always lets me pick our hiking destination because they’re all the same to him. He looks at the beauty of this place, and all he sees is trees, and he grieves that it’s not Texas. 

Failing a winter camping trip at the Wolfkiel Shelter Area, we did a long day hike from the northern terminus of the Gerard Trail clockwise to the vista in the top photo, then backtracked to the Boughton switchbacks, took the swinging bridge across the creek, hiked up the western valley wall and took the Gerard Trail north again and back to our car. It was close to 7 miles. It was a glorious day in the winter woods. Ice cleats were very much needed. By the time we got back to the house, I was too tired to start a fire out back…so maybe it’s good that we didn’t try to camp out that night.