- directions from the north - McDonalds in downtown Titusville to Jersey Bridge parking lot

        - directions from the south - center of the bridge on Rt 8 in Oil City to Jersey Bridge parking lot - 16 miles

- 5 mile loop from the Jersey Bridge parking lot south on the west Gerard hiking trail (the GHT entrance is about 1/4 mile or so up the hill of the paved bike path).  Go 2 miles south to the first white alternate trail which leads to the Boughton suspension bridge over Oil Creek.  Cross the bridge and work your way up the fairly steep switchback hill to the east GHT.  Turn left (north) and follow the main yellow blazed east GHT back to Jersey Bridge.  Note this is the "going home" or "headed home" loop that 100 milers finish with.

- 10 miles - run the above 5 mile loop twice

- 12 mile loop at north end of park (this is sections 1 & 4 of the OC100 course) from Jersey Bridge canoe launch parking lot (near Drake Well Museum) to
               AS # 1 Wolfkiel Run and AS # 3 Miller Farm Rd bridge, then back to Jersey Bridge

- 17 miles by doing the above two loops (sections 1 & 4 as well as the "going home" or "headed home" loop that 100 milers finish with)

- 28 mile loop to Petroleum Center and back - note that you will follow the white alternate trail blazes along Old Petroleum Center Rd (dirt road section) from the west GHT to the park office in Petroleum Center, then the white trail up the muddy hill between the park office and the propane tank (small sign marks the trail entrance).  Then follow the main yellow blazes on the east GHT to the left (north) and work your way back north to Jersey Bridge parking lot.  See the COURSE page for photos of this section.  This is all 4 sections of the race course.

- Directions to do the 7ish mile loop:
    1) head up the white trail hill beside the park office (across the road from Egbert Farm picnic area).  There is
         a large propane tank at the entrance to the trail and it goes up a hill that gets increasingly steep.
    2) after going by some large boulders you will intersect with the main yellow Gerard hiking trail (GHT) - follow
         it north (Cow Run sign)
    3) the yellow GHT will intersect with the red XC ski trail, it will have both blazes on trees, red & yellow
    4) after a few miles of following the yellow GHT, you'll come to a large wooden sign that points to the left
        for Petroleum Center / bike path.  It is the white alternate trail down to the bike path - it has a very steep
        climb in one section for about 50 or 75 yards - perhaps steepest hill in the park.
    5) when you reach the paved bike path, turn right (north) and go over the bridge over Oil Creek.
    6) at the end of the bridge is a white trail for historic Pioneer, turn left onto that white trail
    7) follow this white trail up the hill and to the left (away from the Pioneer parking lot signs).  It will intersect
        the west GHT main yellow trail by some wooden steps.  Keep going straight, do not go up the steps as this
        leads north toward Drake Well Museum / Jersey Bridge
    8) follow the west GHT south, going past the Benninghoff Farm oil derricks, across a paved road (Petroleum Center
        Rd) until you get to the next dirt road (Old Petroleum Center Rd).  Turn left, there will be signs there that say
        Petroleum Center - and it is marked by white blazes.  DO NOT go up the Wildcat Hollow hill that is straight across
        the roadway and has a large sign with a picture of a white tail deer on it.
    9) you'll cross railroad tracks, the one lane Petroleum Center bridge and then right into Egbert Farm picnic area

NOTE:  on steps 6) & 7) - if you miss this white trail, the Pioneer Rd parking lot is just a ways past it (north) so you can
            go up that dirt road for a little ways until you see a white alternate trail leading to the left by an old cement
            building.  Follow that up the hill until you get back on the west GHT at the wooden steps (go straight, not right
            up the steps).

 

3rd & final 2017 supported group outing - Saturday August 26th - 7 AM

Our largest ever with around 75 people attending!  Cool temps (upper 40's to mid-50's) in the morning made for perfect morning running temps, and this it warmed to around 71 in the afternoon.

100 mile entrant Clyde Ferguson of Lockport NY fueling up at AS3 on Miller Farm Rd (photo by Roger Niethe):

2nd 2017 supported group outing - Saturday July 22nd - 7 AM

One of our largest!  Close to 20 people went out on the "unofficial" night run - some doing the full 27.5ish mile full trail loop and others doing one or more sections of the course - plus 45 or 50 people for the daytime group run on Saturday.  There were 30+ cars at Jersey Bridge, 15 cars at Petroleum Center, and the usual Miller Farm Rd bridge area.  The state of Indiana was represented by some of our 100 mile entrants that came to scope the trail out.  Some told me they got into trail running because of these supported group training outings