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A brief sampling of the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania

© Brian Salisbury

After hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon where the Colorado River flows, and camping on the rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, I thought my Grand Canyon adventures were over.

But last year I learned of another spectacular grand canyon located where I live in the eastern United States -- the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania.

Situated in north-central Pennsylvania, this canyon cuts 1,450 feet down at its deepest point and spans nearly a mile from rim to rim. It begins just south of Ansonia, along Pennsylvania's scenic Route 6, and continues south for about 47 miles.

At the canyon's northern-most point, Leonard Harrison State Park on the east rim and Colton Point State Park on the west side, offer the best panoramic views. Here the gorge is about 800 feet deep and 4,000 feet wide.

The canyon's geologic history is fascinating. Pine Creek -- which is more like a small river -- at the bottom of the canyon, originally flowed in a northeasterly direction. But when glaciers covered the region 20,000 years ago then melted, they created a natural debris dam that blocked the creek.

Huge amounts of glacial meltwater eventually overpowered the dam. The torrent of water forced Pine Creek to reverse direction and flow south.

For tens of thousands of years, this fast flowing stream cut a channel through the Allegheny Plateau and created the deep, heavily forested gorge now called the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania.

Early this year, when snow still covered the East, I decided to see the canyon for myself when the weather warmed up.

I got my chance a few weeks ago. I knew the roundtrip would cover at least 600 miles, and I wanted to complete it in a single day. So I was already on the road when the sun came up.

My route west took me along some of my favorite country roads that cut across New York State and into Pennsylvania. In Pennsylvania, I rambled west along Route 6 past Wellsboro to Ansonia. There I turned south and, five miles down the road, entered the 368-acre Colton Point State Park on the canyon's west rim.

Another choice would have been to pick up Route 660 just west of Wellsboro and continue 12 miles south to Leonard Harrison State Park on the canyon's east rim.

For no particular reason, and largely because I was unfamiliar with the area, I decided to follow the signs to Colton Point.

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