I’m lucky enough to live in a place with four distinct seasons, and when my first hike in a new area occurs in early springtime it always feels presumptuously intimate. There are the ephemerals, wildflowers that bloom during the fleeting period when soil thaws and sun can reach the forest floor before branches wave their green fans. Scantily clad trees are everywhere. I get a glimpse into something private that will soon be clothed and shuttered appropriately.

Spending time outdoors for me has always gone hand-in-hand with a relaxing of propriety, so, rather than feel embarrassed as I wander trails at Rider Park just north of Williamsport in late April, I revel in such access. The weather has been seesawing but the day is gloriously warm, and I’m accompanied by Sara Street (above right), the park manager, and Steve Simms (above left), CFO who oversees the park budget and finances for First Community Foundation Partnership of Pennsylvania. Steve confesses he’s using us as an excuse to get out of the office. The late Thomas J. Rider, who is the reason Rider Park exists and offers free access, would heartily approve of Steve’s priorities. Rider believed in the importance of balancing work with the health benefits of outdoor recreation. In this spirit, Sara leads us from the upper parking lot into the woods toward our first vista on the Katy Jane Trail.

The dark shiny bark of black birch is on full display, with hemlocks scattered throughout giving a primeval feeling. “Some call black birch the thugs of the forest,” Sara says, because they move into open areas so fast. It’s good firewood—high BTUs—but hard to split. Before becoming the first Rider Park manager in 2021, Sara worked with a consulting forester here, among other things giving injections to hemlocks in hopes they can survive the wooly adelgid onslaught rampant throughout the east coast. Her background is in landscape architecture, ecological restoration, arboriculture, and park management.

Sara points out May apples that have barely pushed through the layers of brown leaf duff. We are careful to step over emerging fiddleheads that don’t recognize the danger of trails to small, tender things. Deer, however, recognize the park as a refuge from danger since hunting is never allowed there. We’re looking at our feet when the buzzy song of the black-throated green warbler floats down, and even though we can’t see it, it brings to my mind a favorite stanza from Nessmuk’s poem “May”:

A time to feast the soul, the eyes;
To watch each bird that passes;
And half surmise that birds are wise,
And men are only asses.

Nessmuk, who as an adult claimed Wellsboro as home, lived a short time in the nearby Little Pine Creek Valley and wrote about Penns Woods in prose and verse until his death in 1890. His days on this earth ended on May 1, making the last stanza of this poem resonate even more:

And then, to turn and raise the load,
With weary shoulders bending,
And take the old, well-beaten road
That leads—unto the ending.

As we move up the gradual incline, Sara describes the many personas of the park. The south where the Katy Jane loops is rockier, with black birch and hemlock on the north slope, then along the ridge and south slope chestnut oak and bitternut hickory mix in with red maple. In the east, the Francis Kennedy Trail follows an unnamed tributary of Loyalsock Creek along the south side of the meadow, winding through black gum, white pine, and black birch forest to a vista, and returning through a higher elevation portion of the meadow. One can jump from there to the Meadow Loop Trail to explore the planted shrub and riparian areas in the west. The soulmate to the Katy Jane Trail is Cheryl’s Trail in the north, a lollipop layout that goes up and back on the same access trail with a loop at the north end. This travels from the meadow and slowly climbs up to abut Loyalsock State Forest along the ridge of Blessing Mountain. All told there over fifteen miles of trails on these 867 acres. One can wander even further by venturing into the state forest, choose a mild trek of less than a mile, or link the trails for any length excursion. There is also a variety of terrain. As yet there are no truly accessible trails, but Sara has plans to acquire a few GRIT Freedom Chairs, the most versatile all-terrain wheelchair, for use at the park. The wider trails like Katy Jane are perfect for them. Other wheels allowed on Rider Park Trails include mountain bikes—but not ebikes.

We’ve reached the Katy Jane East Vista at an elevation of 1,492 feet, and before us spreads the Allegheny Mountain Range with the Loyalsock Gorge to the left. We follow the ridge about a quarter mile and come to the Katy Jane West Vista. Not that it’s a horse race (horses are not allowed on any Rider Park Trails), but I like this vista best. It’s a tad higher at 1,510 feet with a bench that allows us to enjoy the view of Warrensville and Bald Eagle Mountain in the distance. A sign explains the significance and mystery behind naming this area for Katy Jane. Whether she was an escaped slave who climbed the ridge with lanterns to signal to runaways whether it was safe to cross Loyalsock Creek, or if she was a Quaker woman living at the base of the mountain who led escaping slaves to Trout Run where they were hidden on the northbound train, either way I lift my water bottle to her in toast. As if in agreement a gobbler calls out below.

We head off toward the Scarlet Tanager Trail, stopping to admire both white and purple hepatica pushing through last year’s birch leaves on deep red stems. The rest of my morning hike will include more vistas, wildflowers, and birds, as well as old stone foundations, modern pavilions, and woodcock habitat restoration. Rider’s vision is thriving. While he was playing a key role in attracting new industries to the area during the Great Depression and forming the Lycoming Foundation that provided low-interest loans for businesses, he rambled and quietly bought land he liked in Gamble and Eldred Townships, planning ways to connect the parcels eventually. Thanks to his vision—and the care of Sara, Steve, and many others—we can gaze out over these vistas and ponder what we each might accomplish for the future if we take the long view.