The following notes have been collected from trail users and are considered to represent "local knowledge." Use of this information is at the sole risk of the user.
The original base of the Mt. Pisgah Plane is covered with fill and is now used as a recreational area. The plane can be located by walking north toward the playground (swings, etc.) and looking to the west up the mountain along the line of the limits of the back yards here. Along this line, you will see in the foreground a small concrete foundation, which is right on the line of the plane. If the brush immediately past the foundation is cleared, you will be able to see a considerable distance up the plane. The plane is easily accessible by climbing and bypassing the foundation to the north.
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Most of the plane is clear. However, erosion has taken its toll in spots. The gashes in several places are temporary measures taken to inhibit further erosion on the plane.
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America's first deep tunnel mine was in this area, known as Hacklebernie. There was a mine cave-in during the era of the Switchback Railroad, and the cave-in was bridged by a short trestle. Now, the trestle is gone, and the only ways to continue are to cross the ledge on foot or to detour the cave-in to the south. The detour involves a scramble down and up a steep bank. Both routes are used, but care should be taken either way.
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The site of the depot is now occupied by a legal office and the Vermillion Professional Building. Look carefully in the vacant area to the east of the single-story building which is to the east of the Vermillion Building. Projecting from the ground is the top foot of a wrought iron fence which remains from the days of the Switchback. The fence followed the inside of the track roadbed as it curved toward the southwest behind the depot. To the west of this area is a park. At the western end of the park is a monument to Philip Ginter, who was the discoverer of Summit Hill coal.
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The parking area here was the location of the base of the Mt. Jefferson Plane. A telephone line now ascends the plane. Walking up the plane, one will find the remains of a drainage culvert which carried the outflow of the Spring Cistern farther up the hill.
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Along this area is the hard-to-notice Indian Stairway. It is roughly located a quarter-mile east of the breast of the Mauch Chunk Lake dam, and it is marked by a blaze on the north side of the Back Track trail. The stairway does not come as far south as the trail and, as a result, it can be overlooked. A total of 122 rock steps comprise the stairway. Local legend has it that the stairway was built by Indians who frequently traveled across the ridge. In truth, they were put there by the Gehring brothers, who were miners, after the Blizzard of 1888 to facilitate their "commute" by foot from their home at the bottom of the ridge to the mine on the other side of the ridge to the north. Together, they man-handled a stone per day until they had their 122-step stairway.
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Much of the Back Track Trail from Five Mile Tree to the base of the Mt. Jefferson Plane is on private property. Please respect posted areas.
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In this area, the original route of the Switchback is interrupted by the spillway of the Mauch Chunk Lake dam. The current trail detours around the spillway. The detour is clearly marked by both wear and markers. It passes close by and to the south of the house between the spillway and the Lentz Trail highway.
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