Hiking harrisburg pa: Table rock

March 11, 2020|Hike Review, Hiking PA, Outdoor Activities

The one ting I learned today is that you should not try to hike uphill, with a stuffy nose and mouth breathing while eating a nectarine. The fact that I did not choke on said nectarine is nothing short of a miracle. The good news is that I made it out just fine and had a very nice hike. 

-Easy

-Great views

-Pet/Kid Friendly

This hike continues my series of Hiking Harrisburg. I am getting my hikes from 60 Hike Within 60 Miles Harrisburg by Matt Willen. This is hike number 17 found on page 92. It is an out and back hike on the AT. You can make the hike as long or as short as you would like. I hiked out to Table Rock and back for total of 4 miles. 

I was a little nervous about this hike once I started and saw the signs from the park service (AT is a National Scenic Trail) stating that it is illegal to graffiti the rocks. All of the signs had been covered in graffiti. The first .6 miles of the trail is a wide dirt road that can be accessed by utility vehicles. There was graffiti covering everything, including the rocks at mile .6. After that, it was the Appalachian Trail that I know and love. 

I have spent a lot of time on the AT, having hiked all of Maryland, West Virginia, Shenandoah, parts of VA and PA. It is my hope to completely section hike it one day. After that initial blasted hill that started my hike, it was pretty flat (you know I like flat hikes!). The cool part was that it was on the ridge line for the entire hike. I could look left or right and see the valleys below (I love that!). The trail itself was only a little rocky, so I could enjoy the view and not have to look at my feet the whole time to keep from face-planting. 

The dogs and I had lunch at Table Rock (graffiti-free). I discovered that Athena is a big chicken and does not like heights. Trigger was just happy to be hiking. The view was very nice and it was a fun place to scramble around (watch kids on the outer rock as it is a pretty steep drop-off). 

I really enjoyed this hike and would recommend it. There are probably very few hikes that I wouldn’t recommend come to think of it. If you find yourself in the Harrisburg area (just 30 minutes north of downtown), you should check Table Rock out.