Meet the Squares: The Tuscarora Trail Rug

There are  many components of the Tuscarora Trail Rug that makes this a special piece. First and foremost its location.Spanning across Cumberland, Franklin, Huntingdon, Juniata, Mifflin, and Perry counties, the Tuscarora State forest is  95,780 acres of beautiful forested wilderness. Visitors to the Tuscarora Forest will have the opportunity to commune with nature no mater what time of year visited. Winter provides a plethora of cold weather activities whether you have a passion for x-country skiing, snow shoeing or a cold weather walk in the woods. Springtime abounds with wildflowers such as the Trillion, Skunk Cabbage, Lady's Slipper and flowering Mountain Laurel. Additionally the woods abound with  special treats such as: ginseng and morels. Summer brings more and more flowers and birds and of course fall has a spectacular display of color from changing leaves.

The PA Quilt (and Rug) Trails piece that is installed at the Tuscarora Ranger Station's fire building is a design adapted by the Locust Grove Retirement and Rehabilitation Village. Residents worked hard to design a piece that followed the original inspiration which was a hooked rug done in the 1800s by artisan Magdalean Briner Eby.

Magdalean Briner Eby lived in the area that is now the Tuscarora State Forest. She created whimsical forest scenes into hooked rugs. Her work is highly collectible today and she is considered one of the quintessential hooked rug masters of primitive American folk art.

There were many people that made the Tuscarora State Forest Trail Rug a reality. Stackpole Books, Kathy Wright, Rug Hooking Magazine, Deb Smith, Penn Dot, Department of Forestry, Community Partnerships RC&D, Locust Grove Village, family members of Magdalean Briner Eby and last by not least Gene Odata, District Forester at PA DCNR.