Off-roading has always been something that I have found fascinating: feeling the car bobbing side to side while at the same time trying to make sure the car doesn’t get stuck or break down has always been thrilling to me.
When looking for places near Rochester that would cater to this adventure, I stumbled upon the Allegheny National Forest, located two-and-a-half hours southwest of Rochester.
Allegheny straddles the border between Pennsylvania and New York, featuring hundreds of miles of hiking, biking, snowmobiling, and of course, off-roading trails.
Prior to making our trip, I made sure to print out and download maps onto my phone, as once you are in the park, cell service is spotty.
To select what I thought would be the perfect off-road adventure, I would recommend Google Maps’ satellite viewer.
Pinning down a final starting point, I set our GPS to the coordinates 41.86125° N, 78.87829° W – a state forest marked dirt road – and hoped that this would prove fruitful.
Upon arrival, we noticed that there was more snow in the park than we’d seen on the streets around Rochester.
We traveled State Forest Routes–some of which go unmaintained during the winter. I would not attempt this without snow tires or an SUV/Crossover. Most of the trails we were on in the beginning were partially maintained but clearly had not been plowed recently.
While very scenic, I found the State Route roads not thrilling enough and decided to spice things up, navigating to an unmarked road that wasn’t on the map. Along this trail were dozens of oil rigs, and we seemingly stumbled onto a service road designed for maintaining the rigs.
Soon enough, the larger trail ended abruptly–but a much narrower, completely unmaintained, trail continued to our left. My friend was cautious about us continuing, but I pushed us through anyway. This proved to be a mistake.
On the path were deep tire marks, probably left behind by a tractor, but only a few feet in, it became evident that the snow in some places was deeper than the ground clearance of the car, meaning that the undercarriage was scraping against the bottom.
This took some careful maneuvering as I needed to find a place to turn around ASAP.
At this point, the car was stuck and the tires were spinning, but I wasn’t about to allow this to be the end of our adventure. After vigorous maneuvering, I got the car freed and proceeded to drive to the main road–but by this time, it was starting to get dark and we decided we needed to get out of the park before nightfall.
Directions in the park can be a bit confusing. While not as exciting, I would highly suggest that if you are in a rush, you should exit the same way you entered.
We realized this during what I thought may have been the scariest part of the trip. As we were going around a bend in the road, I realized that water had spilled onto the road and then frozen, leaving behind a sheet of ice blanketing the downhill section of the road.
When I got out of the car to investigate, it was so slippery that I could barely keep my balance.
At this point, had we turned around, we could have been adding upwards of an hour to our journey and would have meant trying to navigate the trails in the dark. We decided to continue forward navigating the icy road.
An image of the black ice below the car.
Alas, we ended up making our way to the main road and got back on the highway to head up to Buffalo for the night.
My experience:
I personally liked our trip. If we had more time, I would have loved to explore more of the park’s trails, and I would definitely be open to going back to the park. Allegheny is huge and offers a wide variety of activities for anyone interested in the outdoors. It also has some spectacular hikes which, in the spring or summer, I would be happy to try out. But for this trip, we just stuck to off-roading.
Buffalo: A night of more adventure
Buffalo is located just about an hour and a half from Allegheny, sitting next to Ontario, Canada, with downtown just steps away from the border. Ready for any sort of adventure, I already had my passport in my coat pocket and eagerly agreed to a quick midnight bar trip in Niagara Falls, Canada.
The bar in question, Big Texas, is located about 30 minutes from the Buffalo suburb where I was staying.
Chris, a Buffalo native and friend of mine, explained that Big Texas is often frequented by Buffalonians who want to take advantage of the lower drinking age. We arrived at the bar and found very convenient street parking steps away from the establishment’s entrance. Chris very kindly volunteered to stay sober and be the designated driver of the night.
Big Texas costs $15 CAD (in cash) per person for entry, but they also take American dollars. To enter and drink, customers must be 19 years of age.
The establishment features live country music, a dress code (no sweatshirts), and a mechanical bull.
The bar itself is rustic, and drinks are served in plastic cups with pretty low prices. I ordered my standard gin and tonic which set me back a pretty reasonable $6 CAD (about $4.15 USD). The bar staff was very friendly and helpful, however, my drink was not very good as the bartender poured too much tonic and not enough gin. I cannot attest to the quality of their other drinks. The bar had fast service, even for water, which we appreciated.
Afterwards, I paid $10 CAD to ride the mechanical bull. One ticket is good for the whole night, and I did it three times before leaving. I would not normally do something like that but it seemed pretty tame. The bull started out not very exciting — akin to more of a see-saw — but suddenly began launching you in different directions.
Almond riding the mechanical bull at the bar Big Texas located in Niagara Falls, Canada.
Last call was at 1:40 a.m. and the bar and live music closed at 2 a.m.. Afterwards, we made our way to get some Canadian McDonald’s and then returned to the border to end the crazy day of adventure.
Final Thoughts
I found the forest to be very enjoyable and would recommend it to someone looking for an adventure. I will say that going in the winter may not be the smartest idea as, unless you like hiking on ice, there isn’t a whole lot to do.
Buffalo was amazing and with it being only an hour and a half drive from Rochester, I think it would be a perfect Friday night getaway. Big Texas was fun, but it felt as if it was trying to be both a nightclub and a country themed bar. The music varied strongly from Shania Twain to Usher – an interesting setup, but one that didn’t work. I would be curious about trying different options in the Niagara Falls area.
If you are going straight to Allegany from Rochester, I would suggest filling your tank at the Seneca Reservation. The day we went, the reservation advertised a sale on gas, with regular unleaded priced at $2.60 a gallon.
In total, this trip was amazing, and I give it 4 ½ ‘Teddy Stars.’
