Guide to the Allegheny Front Trail

-- Official Keystone Trails Association Guidebook --
The Allegheny Front Trail is a 42-mile loop trail in Moshannon State Forest in western Centre County, Pennsylvania, that roughly circles Black Moshannon State Park. The trail visits several dramatic vistas off the Allegheny Front geologic feature and then proceeds through many different ecosystems and landscapes in and near Black Moshannon State Park. The hiker will visit deep forests, wetlands, robust creeks, and high mountain meadows. Utilizing portions of the Rock Run Trails System, the Moss-Hanne Trail in Black Moshannon State Park, old road and railroad grades in Moshannon State Forest, and some newly constructed trail segments, the AFT was opened to hikers in the late 1990s. The Allegheny Front Trail is one of the most accessible trails in Pennsylvania for extended backpacking trips, and it is especially well-suited for beginners. This book includes point-by-point directions for the Allegheny Front Trail, plus the connecting Moss-Hanna Trail, Shingle Mill Trail, and Rock Run Trails System.

Ben Cramer has hiked more than 6,000 miles on Pennsylvania's hiking trails and has completed many of the state's long-distance backpacking trails multiple times. He is a longtime member of Keystone Trails Association and was a member of its board of directors from 2018 to 2023. He is also a member of several Pennsylvania conservation groups and hiking clubs; and was formerly an executive committee member for Sierra Club at both the local and state levels. Cramer is the author of seven guidebooks for Pennsylvania backpacking trails, including two previous editions for the Allegheny Front Trail. With one exception, none of those long-distance trails had dedicated guidebooks previously. Cramer was also the editor of Pennsylvania Hiking Trails (13th edition, 2008). For several years he wrote regularly on outdoor adventure and environmental issues for the Centre Daily Times, and for a variety of Pennsylvania volunteer publications. Under his professional name Benjamin W. Cramer, he is the author of the book Freedom of Environmental Information (2011). He is a longtime resident of State College, PA and teaches for the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications at Penn State University, where one of his research specialties is the environmental impacts of modern telecommunications services.