Tauschers Trail Loop

Tauschers Trail is ideal for a short, easy snowshoe adventure. Located within Hills Creek State Park in north central Pennsylvania, near the town of Wellsboro, the trail offers a peaceful and diverse landscape for a winter hike.

The trailhead is well-marked. A main park road, Kellys Swamp Lane, has a convenient parking lot at the trailhead of two trails, Tauschers Trail and Lakeside Trail. In order to complete a loop, snowshoers should follow the sign Tauschers Spur and return on a portion of Lakeside Trail.

Along the way, snowshoers will wander through some of Pennsylvania’s beautiful woodlands. Featuring a variety of trees, adventurers will walk under towering pine trees in one section and along another part of the trail, see where maple syrup is collected. Tauschers Pond, located just outside the park, is visible between winter leafless trees and brush, while another section of the trail wanders in the open for a scenic landscape view of the park’s Hills Creek Lake.

At one point, the trail leads to the road in the park’s cabin area. The trail continues on this road for a short distance and then reenters the woods. The trail is easy to follow with signs and marks on trees.

Evidence of wildlife is abundant with numerous tracks in the snow from different types of animals, both large and small. Watch for patches of ground where animals moved the snow in their search for food. Alert snowshoers may see wildlife like white-tailed deer standing still and watching the snowshoers. If adventurers pause for a moment and watch quietly, the deer may resume their natural behavior. Be sure to stop at some places along the trail, admire the beauty of the snow-covered forest and listen to the peacefulness of the winter woods. You just might be surprised to see wildlife you didn’t know was there, like a barred owl flying silently overhead and disappearing into the dark branches of a tall pine tree.