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Hiking the Pelnor Hollow Trail from the Northern Trailhead |
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Please NOTE: We show this hike starting from the Northern Trailhead for the Pelnor Hollow Trail. Most access the northern trailhead from the Little Spring Brook Trail.
After hiking up the Little Spring Brook Trail for 3/4 of a mile, you will come to this Trail Junction. RIGHT is the Trailhead for the Pelnor Hollow Trail. Straight will take you west on the Campbell Mountain Trail.
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The beginning of the Pelnor Hollow Trail from the Northern Trailhead will climb at a mild incline through a variety of forest. This is a small section of conifer forest.
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The trail will then turn left and head across a ledge. Finally, it will then start to climb in elevation and wrap around the ledge.
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After climbing around the edge of the ledge, you will then hike across this flat ledge until you reach the trail junction to Split Rock Ledge.
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If you look right when you come to a Trail Junction you will see Split Rock Lookout less then 100 feet away. They present a nice view in the Fall. When the leaves are off the trees, you can see better. This is the only view on the Pelnor Hollow Trail.
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If you look LEFT, you will see the continuation of the Pelnor Hollow Trail. When you are done with the view on Split-Rock Lookout, take a LEFT and start hiking up the hill.
This is the steepest part of the Pelnor Hollow Trail. It will climb 150 feet in elevation over the next 750 feet of trail. When you get to the top, you will reach the Trailhead for the Mary Smith Trail.
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This is the top of the mountain. You will find a trail junction for the Mary Smith Trail. You want to continue STRAIGHT down the Pelnor Hollow Trail.
Some hikers call this North Pelnor Mountain. The USGS does not have an official name for this mountain.
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The Pelnor Hollow Trail will continue across the summit and then start to decline in elevation. The northern part of the trail is fairly easy to follow.
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There are some interesting erratic rocks from the previous glacier age laying around the trail. The trail will then descend to a col between Pelnor Mountain and Northern Pelnor Mountain.
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Once you have descended down into the col between Northern Pelnor Mountain and Pelnor Mountain, the trail will flatten out for a short distance before it starts to climb up Pelnor Mountain.
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After you ascend up Pelnor Mountain, you will come to this rock. Many think that this is the summit of Pelnor Mountain. It is the FALSE summit of Pelnor Mountain.
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This is the true summit of Pelnor Mountain. It is located on the southern tip of the summit region of Pelnor Mountain. After you pass this point, you will start to descend in elevation.
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After you descend south of Pelnor Mountain, you need to pay attention to the trail markers. The trail will take a number of unexpected turns. It is easy to walk off the trail.
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No hike in the Delaware Wild Forest wouldn't complete without encountering a beautiful fern glade.
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After a little after 3-1/2 miles, you will come to the Pelnor Hollow Lean-to. Also, if you look to your left you will see water. That is where you will need to obtain water from.
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The Pelnor Hollow Lean-to does get more traffic then you would expect, considering the difficult DEC access road to the Pelnor Hollow Parking Area. This particular lean-to has nice fire place.
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The Pelnor Hollow Trail from the Pelnor Hollow Lean-to to the Pelnor Hollow Parking area is almost 3/4 of a mile. The trail is generally overgrown since the majority of hiker traffic comes from the north. Few use the trail to the Pelnor Hollow Parking Area.
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The Pelnor Hollow Southern Trailhead has a sign with two parking spaces available. Unfortunately, the mileage on the sign is incorrect. It is 0.73 miles from here to the Pelnor Hollow Lean-to
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This is the Southern Pelnor Hollow Parking Area and Trailhead. It holds about two cars. As you can see it is quite overgrown since few cars come here. Mainly because the top of the DEC Access Road is very muddy most of the year. Only when it has been dry for an extended period of time is the DEC access road dry enough to drive all the way up to the Parking Area.
At the Pelnor Hollow Parking Area, you will see the DEC access road turn 90 degrees to the east. The DEC Access road goes another 1/10 of a mile to a cabin. The DEC property line goes up to the small bridge over the stream. It is very close to the cabin. There is no reason to go to the cabin, so I would suggest no going down the side road.
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This is one of the muddy sections near the top of the DEC Access Road. The water has no where to drain, so it sits there until the soil becomes a deep muddy soup. If it has been dry for an extended period of time, then it is safe to drive over. If you do decide to drive up the road, make sure you have a way to pull your vehicle out. A tow truck cannot get up there. |
This is what the lower and middle section of the DEC access road looks like to the Southern Pelnor Hollow Parking Area and Trailhead. It has rocks as a base. It is NOT rutted or muddy. It is just narrow. There is NO place to park on the public Pelnor Hollow Road below the DEC land.
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This is where you leave the Pelnor Hollow Public Road, and enter onto DEC land. The Pelnor Hollow Parking Area is 4/10 of a mile beyond this point. If it is muddy, you will have to back down this road for 3/10 of a mile. There is NO place to park at this point or below this point. You cannot leave your car in the middle of the DEC Access Road because there is a home further up the DEC Access Road.
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S E C T I O N S
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W E A T H E R
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O T H E R
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Pelnor Hollow Trail 