Allegheny National Forest OHV

The Allegheny National Forest encompasses 513,000 acres of the Allegheny Plateau in northwestern Pennsylvania: the deeply dissected sandstone and shale country of Forest, Warren, McKean, and Elk counties that forms the headwaters of the Allegheny River and provides the closest national forest recreation for the Pittsburgh metropolitan area's 2.4 million residents to the south and the Erie lakefront corridor to the northwest. The forest's Recreation Vehicle Trail (RVT) system is one of the most extensive dedicated OHV trail networks in any eastern national forest: approximately 97 miles of maintained OHV trail looping through the forest's second-growth hardwood stands of black cherry, sugar maple, beech, and hemlock, with access points at Tionesta, Kellettville, and Minister Creek. The black cherry of the Allegheny is nationally significant, this forest produces the finest furniture-grade black cherry timber in North America, and the cathedral stands of mature cherry on the upper plateau give the forest a distinctive character unlike any other national forest in the eastern United States. The Allegheny Reservoir (27 miles long, backed up behind the Kinzua Dam on the upper Allegheny River), anchors the forest's recreation infrastructure, with Kinzua Beach, Dewdrop, and Willow Bay campgrounds serving as basecamp for both water and OHV recreation. The forest terrain is plateau country: the Allegheny Plateau sits at 1,500 to 2,300 feet, cut by steep stream valleys and hollows that descend to the Allegheny and Clarion river drainages. Warren, Bradford, and Kane serve as the primary gateway towns, positioned along the PA-6 corridor that traverses the forest's northern margin. The Pittsburgh market drives the heaviest weekend use; the Erie, Buffalo, and Jamestown NY corridor contributes significant regional traffic. Allegheny National Forest headquarters at Warren (814-723-5150) manages current OHV trail conditions.