Appalachian Trail: Caledonia State Park & Big Pine Flat Ridge

Caledonia was the name given to ancient Scotland by invading Romans, but hikers don't need to be Bravehearts to enjoy the first leg of the AT's ridge top route between Caledonia and Pine Grove Furnace state parks. The hike up to and along Big Pine Flat Ridge is through as pretty a section of Penn's woods as you'll find. It starts in Caledonia SP, named north for Scotland but for Caledonia County, Vermont, hometown of Thaddeus Steven's, an attorney who moved to the area in the 1820s and made his mark as an abolitionist, statesman, and father of the Pennsylvania public school system. Steven's financed the iron industry in the area and got to name the settlement. That's also why his name appears on the reconstructed iron furnace and blacksmith's shop in the park, even through he never shod a horse. Natural history features: Caledonia State Park; Chinquapin Hill; Big Pine Flat Ridge; Conococheague Creek; Michaux State Forest. Social history features: Thaddeus Steven's Iron Furnace and Blacksmith's Shop. Other features: Caledonia State Park pool; Big Flat fire Tower.