mccune trail in ohiopyle

Disclaimer: You’ll want to read this in it’s entirety if you are reading because you have never completed McCune Trail. There is important information at the end that could save you 1 hour in lost shenanigans.

McCune is one of my most favorite trails to hike in Ohiopyle. It’s 4 miles is off the beaten path so it’s not very commercialized or populated. It also has a little something for everyone.

Before I even get to the trail itself, I always make a pit stop at the Baughman Rock Overlook. It is about a mile away from McCune and has a view worth looking at that is only steps away from the parking lot. I typically stop before my hike because I know I won’t feel like it after and the views are all part of this experience. Once we get a few selfies, we head to McCune which is only about a mile to 1 ½ miles down the road. Google Maps will lead you right to the hidden road.

It doesn’t look like much; literally a sign on the side of the road pointing to a dirt pathway that looks like it leads to nowhere. It does in fact get you to a small parking lot that holds 4 cars if parked correctly.

Your journey begins down a grassy path wide enough for motor vehicles. On your first trip down, you will question if you are on the actual trail or if this is just an emergency pathway. Keep walking though because eventually the trail will open to a massive, wooded area with trails going right and left. I have yet to venture left. In the 4 times I have hiked McCune, I have always gone to the right. You’ll see why.

You first trek up a wooded hill. At almost a mile in, if you look to your left you will find a pond with large rocks scattered around. One of those rocks is an old water filtering system. It is impressively clean though not functional.

Next, you will venture through a beautiful array of pine trees, then a bit of a rocky terrain that leads to a single grassy path with an opening that seems quite out of place. At first hike, I thought I must have went the wrong way somehow but right after that opening in the trail is a wooded area with the most amazing view. This is such a great place for lunch, pictures and a break. You aren’t half way through this hike but the next part is a little challenging. So, take a load of and enjoy the rest.

If you continue on past the lookout point you will run in to

switchbacks that lead you to the top of the mountain. These switchbacks can whoop a fat girls butt! I haven’t been able to hike them without rest yet.

A boulder meets you at the top of the mountain. The trail weaves in and though rocks while a wall of rock surrounds you. In the summertime, this trail becomes very narrow with plant overgrowth though still very obvious. There is a part of the trail that is unmarked. You will have a choice to either go straight or right. Straight will lead you to the road not close at all to your car. You want to go right. The path swerves in and out of rocks and trees until you end up hiking down a gradual incline that leads you straight onto a grassy path filled with berry bushes that you can reward yourself with before the trail comes to an end at an opening by the parking lot.

I love this trail. It is always beautiful, challenging but not impossible and long enough that I am ready to find my car at the end. My most favorite hike here was on an early morning when the fog swept through the trees and rocks for 2 hours. I almost didn’t hike it that morning because it was so cold and wet. I’m so happy I did. It felt as if the forest had engulfed me and accepted me as a part of itself. I’ll never forget that hike and I will forever love this trail because of it.