Dawson Cabin

We spent Memorial Day Weekend, 1998, at a PATC maintained cabin in Pennsylvania. It is private and secluded, built in a clearing at the top of a hill. One must walk about 400 yards through the woods to the cabin, so bringing hundreds of pounds of food and equipment will certainly weed out the men from the boys. We bought one of those radio flyer wagons with the big pneumatic tires, and it was helpful in hauling our gear up the hill. There is a nice old couple living on the next ridge over, about a 1/4 mile walk from the cabin. They would probably let you use their phone if you had an extreme emergency, otherwise, you'd have to go to Clearville, about 9 miles north of the cabin. We found the cabin to be very child friendly, with lots of space for them to run and play and few dangers. There is a small fire pit in the foreground of the picture, fine for cooking out, but small for a really big bonfire. There was plenty of dry firewood to be found around the cabin.

The inside of the cabin is well stocked, and plenty of firewood was left for us when we arrived. From the looks of things, the cabin hadn't had a thorough cleaning in quite awhile, so our contribution was to give it a good once over the first morning we were there. There are two double width bunks, one above the other, and the lower bunk serves as the mattress cage, effectively keeping the mice out of the mattresses. We also found it handy for containing our 9 month old son, who doesn't walk yet. "The cage" served as a perfect playpen for him in the daytime. The washroom has a sink that is good for washing dishes in, and a drain in the floor that would allow one to take a sponge bath there. The wood-fired cookstove provided just enough heat to make the cabin cozy on cool spring mornings. It would be a little too small to heat the place in the winter.

There isn't alot to do around the cabin. We spent some time exploring the surrounding woods, but didn't find much. The farmers around the cabin seemed to be endlessly mowing their lawns during the days that we were there, but things were quiet at night. This would be a good place to go if you are into reading, sunbathing, or meditation (from the looks of the cabin logbook, Dawson attracts it's share of fuzzy-headed navel gazers) We spent most of our time recovering from hauling our gear up the hill, as well as chopping wood and reading. We also drove around the area one day and really enjoyed the rural scenery. If you are into off-roading, there are quite a few good dirt roads to explore. (be careful not to trespass) Everett, PA, a really cute little town, is about 20 miles north and has a grocery store and a hardware store if you need supplies and can't find them in Clearville. All in all, we would go to Dawson again, but probably not for more than a weekend.