Greenwood Furnace is a small state park about half hour outside of State College, in northern Huntingdon county. Most nearby horse trails are in Rothrock state forest surrounding the park.
Since Greenwood Furnace was an iron-making complex powered by horses and mules 
, it seems rather appropriate to ride them there!
In 2026, a project spearheaded by Rothrock Trail Alliance will start construction of more than ten miles of new trails at Greenwood Furnace, designed to include horse riding. This follows new trails at Musser Gap (opened June 2025) and Whipple Dam state park (opening end of 2025).
In the meantime we are working to make sure trails around Greenwood Furnace park are open and documented for horse users in 2025!
Trail Overview
Get an overview map showing all the trails around the park at:
Waymarked Trails: Greenwood Furnace region
Download state forest public use maps at:
Bugs
We rode July 4th after a very wet spring and June and biting flies of all kinds were quite bad in the woods. A number of trails pass through hollows which are damp and shady; these are pretty bad for horse flies and deer flies. We strongly suggest bug covers like “Bug Armor”. Hopefully after things dry out, it will be less of a problem.
Ticks of all sizes are also moderately bad. Check yourself and your animal after visiting.
Parking
The area is somewhat short of good horse trailer parking. Your best bet is to park on the Blacksmith Shop loop in the park. There are a couple spots along the edge which are damp, but most of it is well drained. There are restrooms there with running water, and a snack bar at the beach in summer. Make sure you examine the reconstructed mule wagons by the blacksmith shop. The best connection is Brush Ridge trail, reached by riding a short distance on (quiet) Broad Mountain road.
If the blacksmith shop loop is busy, gravel parking lots near the park office or across route 305 are your next best bets for enough space.
Broad Mountain parking lot is a remote parking lot which will hold 1 or 2 trailers. Unfortunately both Dixon trail and Viantown/Main Ski trail which lead from that lot are in bad shape as of May 2025.
Water Sources
At present there are no hydrants conveniently close to parking areas.
If you go from the blacksmith shop loop past the volleyball court you cross a small bridge and can access the stream for watering horses.
In the campground across route 305 there are multiple water hydrants, and a trailer dump station with two clean water hydrants and enough space to turn a horse trailer. Unfortunately that’s a fair walk from the blacksmith shop loop.
We are hoping it may be possible to add a drinking fountain with a faucet–maybe even a dedicated horse wash area–during 2026 trail upgrades. We will be working on park management about this!
Loop Trails
Although there are some trail issues (discussed below), we have a couple fun riding loops which are open to ride as of June 2025.
Loop 1
A six mile loop. Starting from Blacksmith Shop parking, take Broad Mountain road to Brush Ridge trail. You can do a loop on Goose Club and Dixon trails. Those last two trails do have significant grades but they aren’t ridiculous. Footing is generally quite good, as the north slope of the ridge is shale. One modest stream ford. Some small trees down, all passable. Branches cut back. [verified May 24, 2025]
Loop 2
This 7.3 mile ride starts the same as above but continues all the way out Brush Ridge road, returning on Tramway and Dixon trails. It is verified open in June 2025.
Although the elevation profile shows a steep climb on Dixon Trail, it’s really not that bad.
Brush Ridge road has been cleared of low branches in most areas (though it’s growing back really fast). It can be a bit damp in spots, especially at the far end.
Loop 3
This loop is currently not recommended. Part of Viantown (Three Ski) trail is seriously overgrown. That trail may be abandoned in 2026, so let’s place this loop on hold for now.
Loop 4
This 7.8 mile ride does a figure eight at the far end. Hills on Goose Club and Dixon trail are significant, but not really hard.
As of May 2025, all trails in this route are passable with brush cut back. All downed trees can be crossed or skirted; obviously that can change.
Other Loops
Hopefully we can get Tramway and Main Ski trails cleared of trees soon, which will add several options usable in 2025–with new trails to come in 2026!
Major Trails
Brush Ridge Trail
This is a two-track woods road which leads out the small ridge behind the park’s lake. Footing is mostly dirt and grass and it’s an easy ride. There are some sunny areas. Woods are mixed. We cut back a lot of low branches this spring, but with all the rain they have regrown insanely fast. There can be a few damp areas, especially near the far end; these can usually be skirted.
Brush Ridge connects with a number of other trails and is a connector spine that will eventually be part of multiple trail loops.
Goose Club Trail
From route 305 or Tramway trail to the top of Brush Ridge the trail is in good shape, dirt with a few rocks. The climb is not excessive. Brush is fine.
From Brush Ridge road over the summit and down to Black Lick Run we cut back tons of low branches in May 2025. Trail footing is quite good, shale and grass. The descent to the stream is considerable, but not unreasonable.
Dixon Trail
The southern end of this trail from route 305 to Brush Ridge road is good single track, mostly dirt with some rocks where it passes through the former iron mining area. It is a climb to Brush Ridge, but not unreasonable. There is low brush growing in with prickers, but it’s not too bad. Regular traffic would help!
From Brush Ridge road north to the stream we have cut tons of brush; this segment is entirely passable as of May 2025. There are still seedlings on the trail in places. The few trees down can be stepped over, bypassed, or jumped! The hill down to the stream is fairly steep and a bit washed out, probably a bit steeper than Goose Club trail. A stream ford near the bottom has a big tree down in the middle of it, but it is now passable on horseback. The ford is relatively easy.
North of the stream is currently not recommended (see below for details).
Parts of Dixon trail are signed “Ski trail”, which is rather confusing. Hopefully all that will be fixed in 2026 trail projects.
Viantown East Trail
This trail is in good condition from Brush Ridge road down to Broad Mountain road, with one tree down that can be bypassed. There is a significant wooden bridge over Black Lick Run, which is decked with treated lumber and has railings. It can be EXTREMELY slippery! The main span seems well supported, although the approach ramps could use an additional stringer under the center; use a little caution with heavy horses.
We are talking to the park about upgrades to the bridge with the 2026 trail projects.
Tramway Trail
This trail is the grade of a former animal-drawn railway which carried iron ore from the mines. The iron company owned more than 140 mules and horses (info), and some of them would have worked this route. It is a single track with dirt footing and a few rocks.
The west end beyond Dixon trail is generally clear, with a few small trees down which can be bypassed without too much difficulty. Other sections of the trail do have trees blocking easy passage (see below).
Branches on Tramway trail are cut back pretty well, although there is low brush with thorns in places. DCNR will hopefully cut brush on the trail in summer 2025.
Tramway is expected to be an important connector spine trail for coming trail builds, and we hope to get it in much better shape soon.
We are talking with park officials about using part of Dogtown Trail in the park to connect from the campground to Tramway Trail. That would give another loop option for horse riders.
Trail Problems
Tramway Trail
As of May 2025, there are several significant trees down on this trail between Goose Club and Dixon trails. Several are difficult to bypass on horseback. East of Goose Club there is at least one tree down that is difficult to bypass. I am bugging forestry to remove these.
At the very east end of Tramway the trail ends somewhat abruptly short of Dogtown Trail, with a steep bank down to the highway. Hopefully we can get that improved with 2026 trail projects.
Dixon Trail
The north end of this trail, north of Black Lick run, should probably be considered unusable with horses as of May 2025.
The bridge across Black Lick Run is in very bad shape and impassable with horses. It’s not easy to ford the stream nearby. The trail from there to Main Ski trail is also pretty wet and rough.
There may be hope to get the bridge over Black Lick Run replaced with a horse-friendly design and wet sections may be relocated in 2026.
Main Ski Trail
As of May 2025, there is a major tree blockage and very wet area 0.2 miles west of the Dixon Trail junction. This shuts off access from the Broad Mountain parking lot. We have asked DCNR to try to get this cleared.
Signs on this trail show it as Viantown trail. Unfortunately mountain bikers have invented names for trail segments in various mapping apps, which really confuses things.
Brush Ridge Spur/One Ski Trail
We have not been on this trail yet, but based on the condition of Viantown/Three Ski, you should probably assume it’s not in great shape.
Viantown West (Three Ski) Trail
We accessed the southern part of this trail and found it to be impassable except on foot. Many low branches, high brush, trees down. Forget about biking or horse riding on it for now. You can hike it if you are up for a challenge!
The climb up to Brush Ridge road is quite considerable. The signpost at Brush Ridge still says Viantown trail, even though big chunks of Viantown trail are defunct.