greetings from
A PREDICTABLY GOOD TIME IN
PENNSYLVANIA
Mahoning Shadow Trail:
Dreading another
polar vortex? At least there’s a magical, talking groundhog
that can tell us whether we’re in for the long haul.
Punxsutawney Phil has been prognosticating
either six more weeks of winter, or an early spring,
every Feb. 2 since 1887. Folks gather at Gobbler’s
Knob in the central Pennsylvania community of
Punxsutawney for the announcement and other
festivities (
groundhog.org
)
,
including live music,
art shows, food vendors and activities for the kiddies.
Whether you need cheering up after hearing the out-
come or are ready to start enjoying nicer weather, you
can take a trip down the nearby Mahoning Shadow
Trail, which winds 15 miles through woodlands and
alongside a beautiful creek. A rodent of unusual size
(
Phil tips the scales at 20 pounds) isn’t needed to pre-
dict how much
ph
un you’ll have!
Length & surface
:
15
miles; primarily crushed stone with
some dirt and on-street sections
End points:
Fordham
Road/CR 3015 (Valier) toWinslow Road/CR 2001 near
Milliron Road (Winslow)
Website:
traillink.com/trail/
mahoning-shadow-trail.aspx
SNOWMUCH ACTION IN MINNESOTA
Blue Ox-Voyageur Trail:
In the Icebox of the Nation,
otherwise known as International Falls, Minn., “cold” is
on a level of its own. e most popular event in a frosty
f
our-day annual funfest called Icebox Days (
ifalls
chamber.com
)
is the Freeze Yer Gizzard Blizzard
Run. In more than three decades, the race has
never been canceled, though once it was shortened
when the temperature reached 28 degrees below
zero. If such terms as
hardy
,
resilient
and
prepared
describe you, visit this northern Minnesota city
Jan. 14–18 to experience the run and other thrills
in the chill, such as frozen-turkey bowling and
boot hockey (like the real thing sans ice skates).
Hop on a snowmobile or a pair of cross-country
skis for more snow-filled adventure on the Blue
Ox-Voyageur Trail, which starts in International
Falls and streams south through scenic, forested
landscapes for more than 100 miles to Bemidji.
Length & surface:
107.3
miles; ballast, dirt
End points:
11
th Street at U.S. 53/Third Avenue
(
International Falls) to County Road 20 (Bemidji,
where it joins the Paul Bunyan State Trail)
Website:
traillink.com/trail/blue-ox-trail-(voyageur-trail).aspx
To learn more about these and other trails, check out TrailLink.com, a searchable database of more than 30,000 miles of trails nationwide.
The website and new TrailLink apps include detailed trail descriptions, interactive maps, photographs and first-hand ratings and reviews.
By Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
TrailLink
PHOTO COURTESY GREATER INTERNATIONAL FALLS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
PHOTO COURTESY PUNXSUTAWNEY GROUNDHOG CLUB, INC.
rails
to
trails
winter.15
6