August 4, 2024
On our way home from a month-long camping trip to Ohio and Michigan, we stopped in western Pennsylvania to break up the drive, take in a couple of new-to-us state parks, and ride our bikes on two nearby rail-trails.
The 29-mile-long Panhandle Trail stretches from Carnegie, Pennsylvania to Weirton, West Virginia. Formerly known as the Panhandle Railroad, the route once connected Pittsburgh to Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis. It was named for the sliver of northern West Virginia the railroad crossed on its way to Ohio. After the rail line fell into disuse in 1991, it was transformed into one of the jewels in the Pittsburgh trail system. Today, it's the most direct and scenic trail between the Pittsburgh suburbs and West Virginia.
The Panhandle Trail is also a part of the 3,700 + mile Great American Rail Trail, which aims to one day seamlessly connect Washington D.C. with the state of Washington. In addition, it's part of the Industrial Heartlands Trails Coalition's 1,500-mile trail network through New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio.
We got on the trail at it's easternmost point at the old Walker's Mill station about 10 miles west of Pittsburgh. The trail started on a wide crushed limestone surface along Robinson Run and steadily climbed as we made our way west. Shortly after starting we passed by a scenic picnic spot at an old quarry. After going a little further we passed by a side trail leading to Fossil Cliff, where it's reported fossilized fern leaves can be found in the rocks. We also passed colorful sculptures made out of recycled materials along the trail.
As we headed west, the trail passed through several small towns where cyclists could stop at breweries, markets and eateries to enjoy at the establishments or under one of several pavilions and benches scattered along the trail.
Just before getting to the town of McDonald in Washington County, the trail became paved asphalt. At the trailhead for the town of McDonald, we passed through a replica of the Wilson Mill covered bridge. We could also see evidence of the area's oil boom in the late 1800s. Coal is still mined in the area. There's a visitor center near the trail, but it was closed when we passed through, as was the ice cream store we had hoped to stop at on our way back.
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| Wilson Mill Covered Bridge replica |
At about the 8-mile mark we passed beneath a 1913 railroad trestle that carries the Montour Trail over the Panhandle Trail and Robinson Run. About a 1/2 mile further ahead we found the mile-long connector trail for the Montour Trail. We planned to explore that a bit on the way back, so continued on the Panhandle Trail. We reached the town of Midway after riding 10.6 miles. Although we had only completed about a third of the trail, Midway was the railroad's halfway point between Pittsburgh and Steubenville, Ohio, giving the town it's name.
The day was hot, so we reluctantly turned around and headed back to the Montour Trail Connector. The 61.5 mile-long Montour Trail follows most of the former Montour Railroad's main line west and south of Pittsburgh. It also links to the 150-mile-long Great Allegheny Passage trail and the 184.5 mile-long C&O Canal Towpath trail which ends in Washington, D.C.
The Montour rail line was once one of our country's most notable railroads. After the area's coal mines closed, the railroad was forced to shut down in the mid-1980s. The former rail corridor forms a semi-circle around Greater Pittsburgh and is one of the longest suburban rail trails in the U.S.
The trail surface is primarily crushed limestone with some small sections of paved trail. Some features of the trail include bridges, trestles, viaducts and tunnels as riders make their way along the trail. Unfortunately, we only had time to get a small taste of the trail.
After taking the connector from the Panhandle Trail, we wound our way up onto the 900-foot McDonald trestle, which we had passed under earlier. From there the Montour Trail continues on through wooded surroundings, but we had to turn around and head back down and onto the Panhandle, ending back where we started at Walker's Mill station. Even though it was quite hot that day, we still managed to ride just over 25 miles on the two trails.
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We really enjoyed riding on both of these trails. The scenery was beautiful, there were plenty of benches, covered picnic tables, pavilions and toilet facilities along the Panhandle Trail, as well as places to stop for refreshments. The Panhandle Trail was clearly popular with locals since we passed many other riders and walkers along the trail. We only rode a short distance on the Montour Trail where we did see some benches, tables and a pavilion, but weren't able to get enough experience of that trail to report here. However, we do hope to return someday to complete both of the trails.
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| View from the Panhandle Trail |
If you would like to see our YouTube video of our ride on the Panhandle & Montour Rail Trails, please click here.
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