Raystown Lake Military Road Traverse

The old Military Road cuts a 18-mile arc around Raystown Lake’s eastern shore, following the route Pennsylvania militia used to haul supplies to frontier forts in the 1750s. Today it’s a maintained gravel road that threads between the lake and Rothrock State Forest’s 96,000 acres, passing stone foundations of long-abandoned homesteads and the ruins of Greenwood Furnace, a charcoal iron operation that fed the Civil War effort. The road crosses Seven Points Creek on a concrete low-water bridge that floods out during spring runoff, and climbs through mountain laurel thickets to overlooks where you can see the entire 30-mile lake spread below.

Easy run for any stock vehicle with decent ground clearance, though the limestone surface gets slippery when wet and washboards badly after heavy traffic. Spring through fall are ideal, with May offering mountain laurel blooms and October delivering spectacular hardwood colors. No permits required and dispersed camping is allowed in designated forest areas off the main road. Fuel up in Huntingdon — it’s a long way between gas stations once you commit to the full traverse. This is Pennsylvania backcountry at its most accessible, where history and scenery merge into something genuinely memorable.