PATV Endless Mountain Trails

It's time for a party!! Join Polaris Adventures Content Manager Jared Christie on a trip to the East Coast to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the country at a place that has 1,000 offroad miles. 

Book your next adventure @ www.adventures.polaris.com 

Unless noted, trademarks are the property of Polaris Industries Inc.
 © 2026 Polaris Industries Inc.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Polaris Adventures Podcast. I'm your host, Jared Christie. We've got a fun show today because the country is celebrating its 200th birthday. And so we thought we'd join the party and head east. While there's no places to off-road around the Washington, D.C. area, there's definitely a ton of great spots in nearby Pennsylvania. So please welcome to the show Dan Flack, owner of PATV Endless Mountain Trails in CrossFort, Pennsylvania. Dan, how are you?

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Fantastic. Fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

Excellent. Dan, we'll get to the off-road riding in just a minute. But I'm curious, since you're on the East Coast, what's the vibe like? And are people excited about this big 250?

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Absolutely. There's there's all kinds of exciting events going on around the uh around the state. We've got parades, lots of fireworks, and and all kinds of different exciting events scheduled throughout the throughout the summer season this year.

SPEAKER_01 0:53

A lot of the history of this country is based on exploration, discovering new places. And I thought it'd be fun to learn a little bit about you guys and all the cool riding you have to offer. Let's kick things off with your location in Cross Fork PA, which is kind of in the middle of the northern tier of the state. Penn State or State College is just 90 minutes south of you. And to the east is William Sport, home to the Little League World Series. Those are some pretty well-known places. Have you been to the Little League World Series before?

SPEAKER_00 1:21

I have not. I did play Little League uh in in high school or in uh elementary school. I played in a few teams. Uh unfortunately, we were never we were never good enough to actually go to the World Series, but uh but we do watch it.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

Same here. My teams weren't good enough either. Tell me why people come to your neck of the woods. Number one, I would think you're surrounded by state parks and state forests.

SPEAKER_00 1:42

Absolutely. There's there is almost endless it's in our name, uh and it's it's very accurate as well. There's there's endless mountains and trees uh and wildlife and forest. Uh, there's a lot of things to discover depending on what what your interests are. Uh, there's a little bit of something uh natural or some nature uh for everybody in our region.

SPEAKER_01 2:03

I understand the trout fishing is world-class up there, and there's even a dark sky park nearby. My wife is a big fan of those places.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

Yes, we have we have some fantastic trout streams. Again, we have different types of fishing for different folks. Uh if you like the bigger, bigger water, we've got some pretty, pretty solid uh larger streams. And if you like headwaters, we've got a lot of smaller ones as well. On the stars, yes, it's uh Cherry Springs State Park. We're in the same zone as them. The stars are incredible when there's no clouds, of course.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

Right in the middle of all that fun is your place, Quiet Oaks Campground. It's been in your family for decades. You grew up there, you spent your summers there. People know you since you were a kid. Tell me about Quiet Oaks.

SPEAKER_00 2:47

Yeah, Quiet Oaks. We're a family-owned campground, as you mentioned. Uh, we've been around for a while. We got our start being uh pet friendly. Uh some of the nearby state parks at the time were not were not pet friendly. Uh so we found a lot of folks traveling to the state parks ended up spending most of their day at our area with their dog because they couldn't they couldn't always have their dogs. We had we had some kennels and things for them to to store their uh to drop their uh their pets off while they were staying at the state park. And that kind of started us. So we we stay true to that today. We're very pet friendly, uh ATV, of course, and side-by-side friendly. And we just uh yeah, we like to connect people with uh and their pets and their families, of course, with nature and and all of the opportunity in our area.

SPEAKER_01 3:28

And you guys have RV sites, tent campsites, all the things that people need.

SPEAKER_00 3:33

That's right. Yeah, we've got we've got five cabins, we've got approximately 87 sites, 85 of those are full hookup, and uh we've got rustic tent sites as well.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

I have to imagine, based on where you're located, people come for more than a day.

SPEAKER_00 3:47

Absolutely, all the time. Uh in fact, most most of our business uh visits are multi-day weekend, sometimes uh three or four days during a week, depending on uh depending on what folks are looking for.

SPEAKER_01 3:59

Most importantly, you guys are right on the largest trail system in Pennsylvania with approximately 1,000 off-road miles. Location is everything, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 4:09

That's right. Yeah, we're right about right dead center in that in that North Central Regional ATV trail system.

SPEAKER_01 4:16

Let's dive in and investigate some of these trails. It's called the Pennsylvania Wilds. What is that?

SPEAKER_00 4:21

The Pennsylvania Wilds is a group uh of counties. So uh the Pennsylvania Wilds represents all of the outdoor interests throughout our region. Uh it's split up into different zones. Each zone is focused on what's most prevalent in that in that area. Uh we're in the dark skies region, of course, with with the the dark. Uh there's also an elk region and a few other places within the Pennsylvania Wilds.

SPEAKER_01 4:46

Ooh, do you guys have lots of elk up there?

SPEAKER_00 4:47

Yes, we do. Uh, they frequent our property. They love to check out the Polaris machines. Uh, they're always very curious of what these interesting things are. And uh yeah, they uh they make an appearance all the time.

SPEAKER_01 4:58

Tell me about some of the top destinations in the area. I hear places like Whiskey Springs, and there's even some swimming holes that are pretty popular during the summer.

SPEAKER_00 5:08

Yes, uh Whiskey Springs State Park, I'm sorry, Whiskey Springs ATV Trail is a uh more of an off-road riding experience. It's an old coal coal stripping with a lot of different technical ups and downs and rock riding and things like that. The Susquehannock State Forest Trail System is also uh located next to Lyman Lake or Lyman Run State Park, where there's a swimming hole there, of course, and an ice cream stand. Uh, and then there's some some fun trail riding around around the forest that surrounds the state park there as well.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

There's nothing wrong with having an ice cream stand near any off-road trail, is there?

SPEAKER_00 5:40

That not at all.

SPEAKER_01 5:41

What type of riding do you have? Hilly, technical, forest riding? What's it like?

SPEAKER_00 5:47

It depends on where you where you ride to. Uh Whiskey Springs is a little bit more hilly and technical. The Lyman Run State Park, there's some hills in there. It's not as technical as Whiskey Springs. A lot of forests. So you'll find yourself riding on the connectors in the trail system, you'll find yourself riding through a lot of dense forest area. Uh wildlife is surprisingly approachable on a side-by-side. Uh, so it's very, very interesting. You're most likely to see a deer, maybe a bear if you're lucky, a turkeys and all those kinds of of different wildlife as you're uh as you're transiting the the trail system.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

There is a lot of wildlife in your area, isn't there?

SPEAKER_00 6:21

Yep. That's quite a bit. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:23

Dan, do you have a favorite trail or destination that you like to go to?

SPEAKER_00 6:28

I really enjoy the the Susquehanna State Loop. Uh for me, it's um it's a lot of fun. We like to just when we when we have an opportunity to go out and ride, uh we like to just go out and relax and uh just cruise through the forest and get a chance to experience, well, experience a little bit more of where we live as well. So I really like the the slower pace of that that uh that loop on the quiet ride there and uh and it's a really uh it's a really nice ride over through some historical destinations on your way to and from the uh the trailhead there.

SPEAKER_01 6:57

What are those historical destinations?

SPEAKER_00 6:59

Yeah, they the town of Cross Fork itself is is rooted in lumber history. It's a it's an old logging town uh from the late 18, early nids. Uh when you ride through it today, uh you can't you don't really see much of what it was. Used to be uh a rival, in fact, in size to Williamsport, and it's no longer, of course, that that size. Uh so you ride through there, and on on the connectors, you'll ride past old old camps and buildings that are made of logs and and things uh that were built in the mid to early eight. And yeah, each each of those items is is just cool to see and experience.

SPEAKER_01 7:34

You're a local, you're very familiar with the area, but say I'm new, I'm at your campground for the first time, you've got all these trails and places to go to. How do I find my way around and and go to the some of those great spots?

SPEAKER_00 7:46

Right. Yeah, we have some pretty solid mapping. Uh the mapping in the machines is is very accurate for the trail system as well. And there's a lot of signs on the trails of which direction to go. We we will help folks, of course, figure out where they're uh where they're interested in going for the day and help them figure out the timing, how long uh how long is it going to take to get there, how much time do they have when they're there to ride, uh to be back before the end of the day. But yeah, there's uh there's some pretty uh pretty good mapping mapping tools that that we use to get people around and and and find uh find those good destinations.

SPEAKER_01 8:21

Dan, it's been a few years since you guys joined Adventures. How has that gone?

SPEAKER_00 8:24

It's gone really well. Each year is uh is growing. You find a lot of given our our distance from from the uh nearby cities, we find a lot of folks from the city that that just can't they can't own uh their own machine. We have a lot of clients that do own their own machine, but uh the rentals are really useful for those that most especially uh they have they usually have a friend or some family friend or or something like that that loves to go out and ride uh and they're like, yeah, we really want to bring our buddies along, but they don't have their own machine. So uh it's been really good. It's been it's been uh very exciting to connect those folks uh with each other and be able to get them out to enjoy uh what we have with the trail system uh without you know not having to own own their own.

SPEAKER_01 9:08

Because of the large amount of trail riding, I would think most of your rentals are probably full day.

SPEAKER_00 9:14

Yes, our rentals are full day. Most folks come back at the end of the day, usually wishing they had more time, actually. Um, we really want to get to that other spot over there, or we just didn't have time to get there. So yeah, most nearly all of our rentals are a full day.

SPEAKER_01 9:26

You've got a packed summer with campers, some music festivals, but here's my final question. Where is the best place to see fireworks in your area on the 4th of July?

SPEAKER_00 9:37

Absolutely. And it's 100% Galeton. Uh, Galeton has an amazing fireworks show that draws a lot of folks every year. Uh, and they're right on the right on the trail system.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

Oh, will you be there on the fourth?

SPEAKER_00 9:49

Hopefully, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:50

That's a good answer. Well, Dan, have a great holiday weekend and enjoy the rest of your summer.

SPEAKER_00 9:55

You as well. Thank you, Jared.

SPEAKER_01 9:56

Be sure to like and follow the Polaris Adventures podcast wherever you listen to your podcast, and we will talk to you again soon. Remember, you belong out here.