: The Hickory Creek Wilderness is a

wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

located on the Bradford Ranger District of the

Allegheny National Forest The Allegheny National Forest is a National Forest in Northwestern Pennsylvania, about 100 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. The forest covers of land. Within the forest is Kinzua Dam, which impounds the Allegheny River to form Allegheny Reservoir ...

Warren County Warren County is the name of fourteen counties in the USA. Some are named after General Joseph Warren, who was killed in the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolutionary War: * Warren County, Georgia * Warren County, Illinois * Warren County ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

.Hickory Creek Wilderness
- Allegheny National Forest It is one of only two designated wilderness areas in the forest and was created in October 1984.

Topography

Elevation in Hickory Creek Wilderness ranges from where East Hickory Creek exits the wilderness to a plateau at . The gentle to moderate terrain is drained by East Hickory Creek and Middle Hickory Creek.Hickory Creek Wilderness
- Wilderness.net

Flora and fauna

Hickory Creek Wilderness is primarily characterized by

black cherry ''Prunus serotina'', commonly called black cherry,World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference, Second Edition'. CRC Press; 19 April 2016. . p. 833–. wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a deciduous tree or shrub of the ...

and

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

, with scattered hemlock and clumps of

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

and

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...

, with an understory of abundant flowers, ferns, shrubs, and mosses. Large

white pine ''Pinus'', the pines, is a genus of approximately 111 extant tree and shrub species. The genus is currently split into two subgenera: subgenus ''Pinus'' (hard pines), and subgenus ''Strobus'' (soft pines). Each of the subgenera have been further ...

can be found scattered in open areas.

American black bear The American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), also called simply a black bear or sometimes a baribal, is a medium-sized bear endemic to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most widely distributed bear species. American black bear ...

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

wild turkey The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an Upland game bird, upland ground bird native to North America, one of two extant species of Turkey (bird), turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic ...

barred owl The barred owl (''Strix varia''), also known as the northern barred owl, striped owl or, more informally, hoot owl, is a North American large species of owl. A member of the true owl family, Strigidae, they belong to the genus '' Strix'', whic ...

, and

pileated woodpecker The pileated woodpecker (''Dryocopus pileatus'') is a large, mostly black woodpecker native to North America. An insectivore, it inhabits deciduous forests in eastern North America, the Great Lakes, the boreal forests of Canada, and parts of the ...

are common in the Wilderness. Small native

brook trout The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae. It is native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada, but has been introduced elsewhere ...

can be found in both East Hickory and Middle Hickory Creeks.

Hiking trails

The Hickory Creek Wilderness contains several unofficial and unblazed trails, largely on old railroad grades, mostly along the scenic Middle and East Forks of Hickory Creek, though a 1985 tornado has made some sections impassable. The area also includes the maintained Hickory Creek Trail, an 11.6-mile loop, which mostly traverses high ground between the two branches of the creek. While maintained by volunteers, that trail is left in a largely primitive state per the rules of the federal Wilderness Area. A short segment of the Tanbark Trail crosses the eastern corner of the wilderness area.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Hickory Creek Wilderness
- Allegheny National Forest
Friends of Allegheny Wilderness
IUCN Category Ib Wilderness areas of Pennsylvania Protected areas of Warren County, Pennsylvania Allegheny National Forest

Topography

Flora and fauna

Hiking trails

See also

References

External links