Winter Hammock Camping at Oil Creek State Park, PA

This might be my favorite overnighter of the year! While I enjoy the multi-day backpacking adventures the most, sometimes overnighters are very memorable trips too! That is especially true when you get just the right amount of snow out on your trip!

Oil Creek State Park is located in Western Pennsylvania and is host to the Gerard Backpacking Trail. The trail is a 36 mile loop that includes two shelter areas with tent camping options as well as Adirondack shelters. The campsites feature pit latrines for restrooms, a covered firewood area, Adirondack shelters, picnic tables and more! Since I stayed in a shelter for my last winter trip at Laurel Highlands, I didn't want to cheese it this time around. I decided to brave the frigid temperatures in my hammock.

With winter backpacking, the main issue is always staying the correct temperature and avoiding getting wet. This can be a challenge with the changing conditions. You can get wet from sweating while hiking or from precipitation as well. Basic things such as finding somewhere dry to set down your gear and not letting your water filtration freeze requires some level of skill and knowledge to perform safely. Luckily, I have a bunch of videos on my channel dedicated to winter backpacking to help you brave the elements and enjoy the beautiful outdoors while hiking and camping in the winter!

Oil Creek is home to many old structures from the oil boom in Pennsylvania. There are structures in various stages of aging, from old, dilapidated ruins to reconstructed models for educational purposes. There is also a cemetery, a huge river, railroad tracks, bridges and much more to see! I'm looking forward to getting back to Oil Creek to hike the entire loop whenever I have three days to devote to it.

Some notable gear that was imperative to keeping me warm and dry is as follows; Warbonnet Mountainfly tarp, Warbonnet Blackbird hammock, Warbonnet Wooki Underquilt, Warbonnet Diamondback top quilt, REI 650 down jacket, Terramar polypropylene base layers, North Face Gordon E-Tip gloves, Magpul merino wool beanie, Frogg Toggs rain jacket.

Join our Facebook group and ask us some questions and tag along on our annual trip!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/13624...