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The John C. Oliver Loop Trail is a paved 12 mile circuit of Lake Wilhelm inside Maurice K. Goddard State Park in Mercer County, Pennsylvania. It starts and ends at the Lake Wilhelm Dam and passes Boat Launch 4, the park office, the marina, and Boat Launches 3, 2, and 1 on the way around. The whole loop is nearly flat, with only about 55 feet of climbing, so it suits families and first-time riders. Restrooms, picnic areas, and parking sit at every boat launch and at the marina.
John C. Oliver Loop Trail
Your comfort. Prognosticated.
-Cory
In a typical year the John C. Oliver Loop Trail has about 102 to 143 days of excellent weather for popular activities such as hiking, dog walking, e-biking, running, biking, walking, and birding, with May, September, and October the best months.
Hourly comfort scores for the next 15 days of weather, tuned to your activity and your own thresholds.
Plan your visit to this trail. Get the best windows for a comfortable outing.
Enjoy the John C. Oliver Loop Trail!
In half of past years, color along the John C. Oliver Loop Trail peaks October 18 to 29, typically around October 23. The trail has 39% deciduous coverage, with the majority being red maple, black cherry, and northern red oak.
Sandy Creek flooded often enough that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began studying it in 1939. The creek had been on the record since 1753, when George Washington noted it in his reports from a trip to Fort LeBoeuf. No railroad ever ran this shoreline. The loop exists because of a dam, not a right of way. After the Corps study, the U.S. Soil Conservation Service committed to building a flood control dam on the creek. Planners saw the recreational value early, and state, county, township, and municipal authorities joined to build a park and game lands around the new lake. Lawrence J. Wilhelm, a Mercer County Commissioner, led the local effort from 1959 until his death in October 1968. The land was bought in the late 1960s. The dam was finished in 1971, and the park's recreational facilities were dedicated in 1972. The lake took Wilhelm's name. Maurice K. Goddard State Park was named after the state's long serving forests and waters secretary, over his own objections, in 1969. The paved loop around the lake came much later. John C. Oliver III, the first Secretary of DCNR, secured the funding, and the 12 mile trail was built in 2003. On September 25, 2015, DCNR named it the John C. Oliver Multi-Purpose Loop Trail at a ceremony at the park.
Walker Run TrailGoddard-McKeever Trail
