5 remote Pennsylvania trout streams to escape civilization

The 2017 PA trout season is now underway. It opened last week in Lancaster and 17 other southeast Pennsylvania counties.

That’s great. It gives people the chance to head out before and after work to catch some fish. I get that.

But I have to admit, I prefer the next trout opening day that comes on Saturday, April 15, to the rest of the state.

This opener offers the chance to get away from civilization. Wading Big Beaver Creek below Strasburg is a good way to kill a couple of hours, but I want to be in a place where I feel like I’m in the wilderness. Where I can’t hear any vehicles or see any signs of human habitation.

I don’t need total solitude. There can be other anglers around. I just don’t want 10 heifers staring at me, chewing their cud, while I’m dunking my line.

So if serenity is as important to you as trout when you seek out a trout stream, here are my recommendations for 5 killer PA trout streams away from civilization.

1. Penns Creek

If you’ve read this page at all over the past two decades, you knew this one would be on my list. This is my favorite trout stream in the entire state.

Starting from the town of Coburn in Centre County, you can find about 10 miles of Penns Creek flowing downstream through the Bald Eagle State Forest. Various special trout regulations apply here, so check the rule book before you go. But you’ll have no trouble finding some alone time here.

2. First Fork Sinnemahoning Creek

I almost drowned in the First Fork of the Sinnemahoning in Potter County many years ago, so I can vouch for its remoteness. I remember thinking as the flow was pushing me into a deep hole that there was absolutely nobody around to help me if things went the way I thought they were going. Fortunately, my feet hit a high spot in the stream bed just in front of the hole, and I was able to scramble back to shore. My favorite section of this stream is in Sinnemahoning State Park, south of Wharton.

3. Loyalsock Creek

All you need to know about the solitude this Sullivan County stream offers is that it flows through World’s End State Park. Route 154 does follow much of the stocked portion of this stream, but it’s not a terribly busy road, and there are places where the creek and the road separate. Plus, the side of the stream opposite Route 154 is total wilderness. This is one of my favorite trout streams for its in-stream geology. It’s got lots of river rocks and big boulders, which is unique among the streams I fish.

4. Kinzua Creek

This one flows through the 513,000-acre Allegheny National Forest in McKean County. That’s 800 square miles of forest. If you can’t find solitude here, in the woods east of Westline, then you’re just not trying very hard.

5. Fowler Hollow Run

There’s no question, the four previous streams on this list are all good distances away from Lancaster County. Well, according to Google Maps, Fowler Hollow Run in Perry County’s Fowler Hollow State Park is less than two hours from downtown Lancaster. Yet it’s as remote as any of the other streams listed here.

For more information on any of these streams, visit the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission’s website at fish.state.pa.us.