Big Stonecoal Trail
The Big Stonecoal Trail (U.S.F.S. No. 513, 4.4 miles) begins at the Red Creek Trail and connects to the Rocky Point and Dunkenbarger trails before terminating at the Breathed Mountain Trail in the northwestern corner of the Wilderness. It follows an abandoned logging-railroad grade overlooking Big Stonecoal Run. After passing through a mix of deciduous forest and red pine and spruce groves, it opens onto windswept grasslands dotted with beaver ponds as well as blue gentian, black-eyed Susan, gold-enrod, mulleins, Queen Anne’s lace, and yarrow.
According to John Holden, a seasoned backpacker who counts the dolly sod wilderness among his favorite hiking destinations, “If you could design a hiking trail, you couldn’t do much better than the Big Stonecoal Trail—perfect slide waterfalls lead up to highland meadows with spruce groves and alpine vegetation.”
Visual source: panoramio
