Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2020 - 36

The Ghost Town Trail, Hoodlebug Trail, and C and I Extension combine for approximately 46 miles of quality hiking and biking.

Of course, this part of Indiana County is beautiful, so even
the circuitous routes between points do not seem bad.
Once on the trail, though, I enjoy the opportunity
to immerse myself in nature and enjoy the scenery and
any wildlife I encounter along the way. It seems there
are always deer nearby, or frogs in the boggy areas, or a
plethora of birds flitting in the tree branches. More than
anything, the Ghost Town Trail is a great place to go to
clear your mind and focus on nature's beauty.

Fishing opportunities

Most of the good fishing in this area can be found close to
the Hoodlebug Trail near Homer City. Within a short drive of
the trail, you will find Yellow Creek, Little Yellow Creek, and
Laurel Run, all of which are stocked with trout. And there is
Yellow Creek Lake, which offers a lot of warmwater fishing
and boating opportunities.
Blacklick Creek, which closely parallels the Ghost Town
Trail from Black Lick to Vintondale, suffers from acid mine
drainage. If you look upstream as you cross over the North
Branch Blacklick Creek using the Main Street Bridge in
Vintondale, just across the Cambria County line, you will
see what appears to be fountains of water. These are actually
boreholes that were drilled into the creek bed, and the water
gushing out at a rate of 1,080 gallons per minute is the acid
mine drainage that renders Blacklick Creek virtually lifeless
during its entire 25-mile course. But, it will not be that way
much longer.
Construction of an acid mine drainage treatment facility
is scheduled to begin in mid-2021 and be completed in
2022. Hopefully, this will change the dynamics of Blacklick
Creek the way similar projects have improved other Cambria
County streams. For example, active treatment facilities on

Lancashire No. 15 and Barnes & Tucker Mine 20 have turned
the headwaters of the West Branch Susquehanna River into a
viable wild Brown Trout fishery. The same could happen to
Blacklick Creek.
At a glance, Blacklick Creek is a beautiful stream
filled with huge boulders and deep pools. It is the perfect
backdrop for the Ghost Town Trail. As you ride or walk the
trail, you can hear the constant flow of the nearby river, a
soothing sort of melody that adds to the overall atmosphere.
To have that stream running clear and clean again would be
a major attraction and economical boost for the small towns
along its course.
Past cleanup projects have already helped the South Branch
Blacklick Creek, which joins the North Branch just outside
of Vintondale. Although the South Branch is not stocked by
the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, several local
sportsmen's clubs raise funds to stock trout in the sections
around town.
In July, I crossed the foot bridge over the North Branch
Blacklick Creek and looked down at the stream and saw trout
gathered around some debris that washed up against the
bridge abutment. The trout had come from the South Branch,
which is clean but warms up too much to support trout in the
summer. Unfortunately for the fish, the water pumping up out
of the abandoned mines on the North Branch Blacklick Creek
is cold enough but too polluted to support the fish. On a
brighter note, if everything goes as planned, the North Branch
Blacklick Creek as well as the main stem Blacklick Creek will
soon flow both cold and clean enough for trout year-round.
The Ghost Town Trail is a great place to find solitude,
beautiful scenery, and abundant wildlife. Throw in some
great nearby fishing opportunities, and there is something
for everyone.

Pennsylvania Angler & Boater * November/December 2020

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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2020

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