Allegheny National Forest

"Need to get away? Allegheny National Forest."

- Poster Advertisement "I hate the woods!"

- Francis

Allegheny National Forest is the main setting for the Blood Harvest campaign in Left 4 Dead.

History
This thick forest is located in the north-western part of Pennsylvania and is part of the state's national forests and parks estate. In more settled times, visitors would be able to camp or hike in this wilderness area. A notable feature is an iconic swing bridge spanning a large river gorge. The park area is bordered on one side by the Richardson Atlantic railroad and its warehouses, railroad tracks and associated infrastructure mar what would otherwise be a pristine forest park. Private land backing onto the park includes a farm owned by the Daughtery family.

Current Status
The forest is completely devoid of human life except for the many infected infesting its trees and undergrowth. CEDA had no realistic hope of evacuating people caught in the park at the time of the Infection nor of throwing an effective quarantine around it. Consequently all they were able to do was to put up to evacuation notices on park notice boards telling people to head to Daughtery Farm. When the military took over all CEDA operations, they continued to use the farm as an evacuee collection and staging area serving a secure facility at Millhaven. However, in common with all such outposts, the soldiers that posted to the farm were either killed by the infected or succumbed to the Green Flu themselves. Instead of sending forces out to re-occupy the farm, the military opted merely to keep the farm radio live and to broadcast a tape-loop in the vague hope that someone in need of help responded.

The Survivors start off in the middle of the forest at a makeshift camp site. (No details are provided in the game as to how they arrived at that spot or how long they have been there and it is left to the imagination that somehow their evacuation flight from Metro International Airport went array. Note that the subsequently released The Sacrifice comic mentions that this aircraft crashed.)  In a somewhat forced dialog lampshade, one character will pipe up about the military having an evacuation center nearby whilst another will chime in that they too have heard the same thing.

Thereafter they tool themselves up and move along a forest trail, cross a river gorge and enter the Richardson Atlantic building. Safe room wall graffiti speaks of the need to the rail road tracks to the military's Echo base outpost at the farmhouse. The Survivors accordingly follow the tracks through the rest of the forest and use the railway company property to eventually get to the farmhouse where rescue awaits them.