By g3tran in June, 2011
Just did this trail as an afternoon warm up for the Lehigh Gorge trail. Lower Switchback was good on a hybrid although the trail is not well marked until one gets to Mauch Chunk Lake. Started at the indicated Parking Site in Jim Thorpe; no signage, so missed it initially. Trail opening marked only by two small concrete posts; stay to right a little way down the tail as it splits: left branch takes one downhill to town; disappointing to have to work one's way back up hill. Review trail description of Lentz Road break before heading out; no signage from JThorpe direction when one reaches the small power plant. Fortunately, fishermen directed us up and across the road to where there is a nice large Switchback sign, although actual trail is a little hard to find.
Coming out of the woods by the lake, it is worth the time to take the very short trail to the left to the dam. Nice view of the lake with benches to rest. Back on main trail, water and bathroom at the park entrance/ranger station. Must cross main road at park entrance to continue on Switchback trail; not well marked...had to ask a ranger for direction.
We continued west until reached the junction with the Back trail; again, little signage and then headed back east towards Jim Thorpe/Mr. Pisgah. As with other reviews and description, trail is rough with rocks, runoff damage, and roots. Have had significant hard rain lately, so runoff obstacles not unexpected, but made this portion of the trail much more suitable for a mountain bike; little time to sight-see along the way because of need to concentrate on trail obstacles. Here in early June, the big payoff for the uncomfortable ride was long sections of blooming mountain laurel, long stretches of trail covered with flowering laurels made for wedding bower-like feel.
We completely missed the warnings of the "obstacle" until trail sort of ends at a cliff face. Apparently there is a side trail to go around this, but we saw no signage or trail either leaving or rejoining the trail we were on. With the lack of signage, it is possible we were on the wrong trail, but most other descriptions match what we saw, so I think we were in the right place. TrailLink map doesn't hint at this situation; we were able to walk our bikes across the cliff face with relative ease so this wasn't a major problem. Park make more distinctly indicates a side loop, but we clearly missed it.
Big problem for us was after reaching the top of Mt. Pisgah; again signage isn't clear and there are multiple option. We didn't explore much, but there weren't great views. Back down hill to Jim Thorpe was like a dry stream bed, very washed out; not even gravelly, just rocks. Not possible to ride on a hybrid; hard to see most sections doable on a mt bike. We walked the entire way back down to Jim Thorpe. Be wary of your plans if it includes this last stretch; the Jim Thorpe to top of the Mt section is not possible with a hybrid.
We were not looking for a mountain bike experience and don't want to be hard on the trail because we looking for a more leisurely, sight-seeing ride on hybrids. Aside from the last section as describe above, trail can be done on a hybrid. Lots of things to see, but we had a much nicer time on the Lehigh Gorge trail the next day. Switchback Gravity Railroad Foundation website has nice historical information about the trail history.
By DCwom in September, 2006
"On a recent trip to ride the Lehigh Gorge Trail we decided to sample the nearby switch back trail. (for a shuttle
to the top I would defintly use Blue Mountain for this trail, as the
lower trail head is about a block or two from the store).
Since we were only interested in sampling the trail we parked at
Manch Chunck lake park (just outside of town) where the
trail makes one of two road crossing, from here we pedaled up the trail to the
Summit Moutain trailhead (about 3.5 miles), then let gravity take us back down
to the lake (boat rental, bait, swimming also available at lake). While the
ride up was bumpy, it was also slow (~5-6 MPH), however the ride back down
was bone-jarring at 10-13MPH).
The switchback is technically
a rail-trail with a fairly constant grade, but the surface is ROUGH, defintly
mountain bike turf (I rode a shockless hybrid!), 1"" gravel rocks,
random 2"" to 4"" mini-boulders and even chunks of coal spilled a
hundred years ago from train cars makes this a bumpy experiance.
The very top portion at the Summit trailhead is actually a paved road (we never
saw a car), providing a brief resprit from the bumps.
I pity the family who attemps the trail with trailer bikes, or kid trailers
(yes we encountered some of these hapless folks). Good bike control is
important since you must dodge rocks, etc, and the conquence of an
uncontrolled off-trail excursion in some sections isn't a pleasent thought.
Given the opportunity
again I think I would rent a shock equipped bike and make it a one-way trip
from top to bottem."
By Ed in July, 2006
"Set out from Mauck Chunk Lake in search of Mt.Pisgah and the views that it promised.
Found the trail difficult to ride on. Very rocky, and lot's of roots.
Came upon turn, where a local resident pointed uphill, where I could find Mt. Pisgah. Could not ride up the trail, that was a mix of sand and rocks, so I pushed my bike up, perhaps a mile or so.
At the top, I found myself in a neighborhood that a resident confirmed was Mt. Pisgah. There was a cemetery and homes, but I didn't see any fantastic views.
Where did I steer wrong?
After descending back to Mauch Chunk, I got on the lower trail. This was much easier, and very pleasant.
Found the Lehigh Gorge trail much more scenic and enjoyable. Would like to find what I missed in Mt. Pisgah."