Travel Reference
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as they have for more than 300 years. To reach Hearts Content, follow signs from the Tidi-
oute Overlook. Once there, you'll find a mile-long trail that winds through the old-growth
timber stand and loops back to the picnic area.
The national scenic area lies at the threshold of another pocket of serenity, the
8,570-acre Hickory Creek Wilderness. Since no motorized vehicles are allowed there, you
may prefer the conveniences of Chapman State Park. The best way to get to Chapman is to
take Rte. 3005 north to Warren, follow Rte. 6 south, and then head west at Clarendon.
2. Kinzua Bridge State Park
Spanning the Kinzua Creek valley north of Rte. 6, the Kinzua Bridge, at 301 feet in height,
was the tallest railroad bridge in the world when it was erected in 1882. Rebuilt with steel
in 1900 and abandoned by regular railway traffic in 1959, this towering monument to the
golden age of railroads now serves the excursion trains of the Knox, Kane, and Kinzua
Railroad, which can be seen chugging along from several vantage points in Kinzua Bridge
State Park. From June to October you can get on board at Kane or, for an all-day trip,
farther south at Marienville and let a vintage steam locomotive carry you back through the
park's forests and across the bridge.
3. Ole Bull State Park
One of the great violin virtuosos of the 19th century, Ole Bull was renowned on both sides
of the Atlantic. His greatest love was his native Norway, and since the rugged, deeply
wooded hill country of northwestern Pennsylvania reminded Bull of his homeland, it was
here that in 1852 he attempted to found a colony called New Norway. Problems with prop-
erty titles and the hardships of wresting farmland from forest defeated Bull and his follow-
ers, but his dream is preserved for posterity at 125-acre Ole Bull State Park, located along
the banks of Kettle Creek. As you head south to the park on Rte. 44 at Sweden Valley,
you'll be following the path of an old stagecoach route that was called the Jersey Shore-
Coudersport Turnpike, named for the towns at either end of the line.
4. Pennsylvania Lumber Museum
Several miles beyond Sweden Valley, Rte. 6 reaches its highest point in Pennsylvania.
From the top of Denton Hill, in Denton Hill State Park, you can look down on the head-
waters of the Genesee River, flowing northward toward Lake Ontario and the Gulf of St.
Lawrence; Pine Creek, which feeds the Susquehanna River and, ultimately, Chesapeake
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