Bucktail Path · PA-120 & Hyner View

The river and an overlook up high: you leave Lock Haven on PA-120, the Bucktail Path, and follow the West Branch of the Susquehanna to Hyner; there you take Hyner Run Road and Hyner View Road up to the overlook at Hyner View State Park. It's 28 miles, easy along the river at first and then tight curves and hairpins at the end. The road at the top is narrow and dead-ends, and the park is open from sunrise to sunset. Fuel up and eat in Lock Haven, since there are no services along the way.

PA-120 between Lock Haven and Emporium is the Bucktail State Park Natural Area, a 75-mile corridor along the West Branch of the Susquehanna and Sinnemahoning Creek, dedicated by the state legislature in 1933. It's named for the Bucktails, the Civil War regiment that left from Driftwood in 1861 on rafts its men built themselves. This route rides the first part of it, from Lock Haven to Hyner, with the river always beside you.

At Hyner you leave PA-120 for Hyner Run Road and Hyner View Road, which climb to Hyner View State Park. The overlook sits about 1,300 feet above the river, behind a long stone wall built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, and hang gliders launch from a ramp just below it. There's a small picnic area, a parking area and restrooms, and the park is open every day from sunrise to sunset. Fuel up and eat in Lock Haven, where Texas Lunch has been serving Texas hot dogs on Main Street.