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by John Motz, Trail Maintainer and KTA Represntative-at-Large
After five years of toil, the KTA Trail Crew, along with helping hands from the Pocono Outdoor Club, has reopened 16 miles of Thunder Swamp Trail (TST), east of SR402. The trail had become badly overgrown, and in recent years suffered from a surge in understory growth generated by a mass oak die-off. The trail crew started at the northern loop around Big Bear Swamp (aptly named) and worked southward, clearing blow downs and brush, and painting fresh orange blazes. The work has paid off, as attested to by the backpackers we spoke with at our Fall, 2012 work days. The crew invested over 1,060 total hours, including some side-work on Little Falls Trail at Promised Land SP (we had to work for our tent sites!).
FD19 is looking into developing group camping at the recently purchased Camp William Penn on Snow Hill Road. This location would make for a much shorter commute to TST. Stay tuned - there are still 10 miles of TST west of SR402 to reopen, along with a connector at Ludleyville.
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