The published directions are good if you're coming from Harrisburg, but if from Hagerstown, get off at exit 24...29 is way out of the way!

Beautiful countryside on a very nice trail. Suitable for walking, running and biking. Parts of the trail have a horse path next to the ballest trail. Would recommend bikes with wide tires since some southern trail surface has very loose small stones. We waited out a rain storm at a covered shelter at Oakville Road which was furnished with picnic tables for our lunch. Encountered a few walkers, runners and bikers on a Monday afternoon.

Found a car key on the trail on Sunday, Oct. 16. If anyone lost one contact me at purc2186@epix.net. Trail ride was beautiful, peaceful and relaxing. Great day. Great views. Great ride.

I found a car key on Sunday. If it migh t be yours pleae contact me at purc2186@epix.net and I'll be glad to mail it to you.

We rode this trail today and were pleasantly surprised. It had a nice tree canopy for a good 75% of it. Even though it was 80 degrees, it was nice and cool on the trail. It was well maintained, minimal debris. There were nice restrooms and parking at both ends of the trail. Not too crowded but enough activity that you didn't feel isolated. The road crossings were well marked and easy to navigate. We will be back for sure.

This trail is a gem -- clean, slightly shaded, mostly flat and in fantastic condition. The roadway crossovers are clearly marked. The only slight negative is that each trail mile is pretty much the same as the last – fields, trees, farms – and raspberries in July!

(NOTE: directions say turn onto Cemetery Road, but you actually turn onto Rich Street –across from Cemetery – to reach the trailhead). Newville trailhead has a quaint, shady picnic area, with ample parking. The restrooms are clean and well maintained and there’s a working outside water fountain (in warmer temps). Here, the trail is paved and marked with lanes from past events. If you turn left at the trailhead you will go only a few hundred yards before reaching a turn around. This marks a future 11-mile extension to Dickinson College. For now it’s a dead end. Turn right and you’ll spend the next 11 miles in the bucolic countryside.

At about the halfway point, you’ll reach the Oakville Road crossing where you’ll find a picnic table and restrooms just up the road in North Newton Township Park.

Continuing on you will seemingly come to the end of the trail at Shippensburg Township Park. However, the trail continues past the park -- down and up steep embankments -- for another mile, ending at North Earl Street in Shippensburg. There’s no parking or facilities at the true end, so for now, Shippensburg Township Park, with restrooms, water, pavilions and loads of parking is a better ending point.

Take containers for raspberries. They are plentiful in early to mid July!

Nice flat easy to ride trail with views. If you run the whole trail be careful on the downhill section at the Ship end, steep hill runs right out onto the road very little visibility. Got caught in rainstorms all the way back trail path holds up well to water. Nice building at Newville trailhead to gert cleaned up if need be.
Great afternoon ride.

This was our second ride on a Rails to Trails. We started at about 10 AM at the Newville trailhead, wasn't sure how far we wanted to ride, maybe all the way to Shippensburg? However, we stopped at mile 4 (so we had gone over 6 miles), decided to head back. The trail was easy, and what beautiful countryside. We met many people biking and walking, all very friendly. It was a beautiful day and a great ride.....so we went about 13 miles. We will certainly go back to this trail, next time starting from the Shippensburg end.

I am new to the cycling sport and did this trail for my first long distance ride. I was so pleased with it that I've been back multiple times. Anyone living in Newville, Shippensburg or near there would be crazy not to use this trail as a great resource for exercise! It is well maintained and has some nice views of the mountains. I don't usually see a lot of people on the trail, but it makes for a nice, calming ride. Would recommend to anyone!

Take PA 641 from Carlisle to Newville, turn left on Cemetary Road (0.6 miles from Newville traffic light); proceed through stop sign at Shippensburg Road; cross Broad Street and proceed straight to McFarland St. Park for parking and trail access.

I rode this trail on the morning of Thursday, August 14, 2008 - beginning at 7:30 AM in Newville, PA and riding to Shippensburg, PA.

This is a great ride! I didn't see one other biker on the trail (unknown or underused?) but a few people walking their dogs. The trail is graded slightly "up" from Newville to Shippensburg. Road crossings are marked well, HOWEVER, for those of us who refuse to dismount and walk across a road, it is very difficult to SEE each direction on these road crossings before getting to the actual crossing. BE CAREFUL! The roads were not heavily used as far as I could see (at least at this time of the morning) but a careful "look" is required before crossing.

The problem with the trail is that it is not really 10.9 miles in length - well, at least it's not connected or fully ride-able at that length. The asphalt trail comes to an end at a community softball field park just off the campus of Shippensburg Univ. There are NO SIGNS indicating where the trail goes from here. The trail simply reverts to an unused single track for another 30 yards and then takes a deep dive down a hill (DO NOT RIDE on bike without heavy mountain bike experience!). According to a local runner, the trail then crosses the road below and heads back up to the old rail bed on the other side and finishes in town as a single track trail. Evidently, there was a railroad bridge crossing this road before and the plan is that there will be a full continuation of the trail across a new bridge when the money is available to finish it.

If you need to get to the parking lot in Shippensburg where the trail actually ends, you will need to do this: at the end of the asphalt portion of the trail, turn left into the community park - head towards active roadway - turn right, then another immediate right at intersection - follow to rear entrance (NEW!) to Shippensburg Univ. on left - go through campus staying on the side of the rail bed (left side of drive) until getting to main entrance to campus - allegedly you can pick up the remainder of the trail here to get to the parking lot.

A few signs indicating where the last 1.5 + miles are located would be extremely helpful for those of us not from the area.

Again, GREAT RIDE except for the signage problems at the Shippensburg end. Enjoy!

Wayne Lahr
Boyertown, PA

This trail is finished for about 10.5 miles. There are parking lots with restrooms at Newville and Shippensburg Park (Shippensburg end). If they ever get the money for two bridges (one at each end) - that will make a total of 11 miles. You really don't notice the missing bridges as the trail is improved between the two parking lots. It is crushed stone/cinder and very nice. It is a wide trail with room on the shoulder for the horses. I've biked it several times now - there are nice markers designating each mile. At the Shippensburg end - you can go out of the park and get on the road for about 1/2 mile and be in the town of Shippensburg with restaurants. There are also a couple of restaurants in Newville within each biking distance of the trail. At about the half way point - there are picnic tables and a kiosk in Oakville. I highly recommend this trail - it is not crowded, well-maintained, and goes through beautiful farmland with mountains in the distance.

"I just rode the Newville end of this trail, and the conditions are much improved from years past.
The complaints of previous reviewers are no longer valid."

"Okay so there are some bad reviews of the trail here but this is was one of the reasons I decided to live in Cumberland County.

I biked the developed section this past weekend and found it to be a nice trail with wildlife such as rabbits, birds, woodchuck, and a snake sunning itself. The surface is crushed stone with the exception of paved sections that are on either side of the road crossings and for farms right of way which cross the trail. It sort of starts in the Shippensburg Park with the first mile marker being 1 which is a little confusing. There is also a separate space for the horses, although it is obvious they don't alway use it with the waste that is left on the trail if you get my drift. The scenery is relaxing and the canopy over the trail was appreciated on the early hot and muggy day. I also ventured around on the lightly used side road at the crossing and encountered several Mennonite buggies and cyclist as I wanted a slightly longer ride.

I have also recently walked the undeveloped trail from Newville to the Ott Road intersection and can't wait for this section to be completed. I understand the bidding is all done and the work should begin shortly.

The trail section in Newville is 1 mile long with part of it being concrete surface and part being asphalt. The trail head facilities at Newville are first class since the boro built a miniture replica of the towns old rail station that houses rest rooms. There is also ample parking at Newville and once the trail actually connects it should prove to be greatly appreciated by the trail users.

There is limited parking at the Oakville Road crossing as well as at the Shippensburg end.

I can't wait for it to be completed this summer."

"The best access to the southern part of the trail is from the Shippensburg Township Park located just 0.9 miles from the southern-most end of the trail. The park is undergoing what appears to be an extensive renovation and will have an ample asphalt parking lot with restrooms, athletic fields, and a playground. There is also direct access to the beginning of the newly completed 4.5-mile improved section of the trail.

While access to the southern-most end of the trail at Shippensburg can be achieved from the municipal parking lot described elsewhere on this site, the trailhead is 0.75 miles away from that lot and you will have to find you own way there through either the Shippensburg University campus or through the town streets. The route is not marked. If you do find your way to the trailhead, you will travel 0.9 miles on an unimproved trail and negotiate a steep 30-foot cut where a bridge once stood in order to get to the Shippensburg Township Park trail entrance.

North of the park entrance to the trail, the newly completed 4.5-mile section of improved trail has a 10-foot wide, smooth, packed, crushed stone surface and a parallel 10-foot wide dirt surface for horses. The trail is essentially straight with one sweeping curve and no perceptible grade. All of the gaps where bridges were once located north of the Park entrance have either been filled in or replaced with gentle ramps. North of the improved 4.5-mile section of the trail, the trail becomes narrow and somewhat rough and occasionally muddy because it often runs beside what was once the old railroad bed causing the trail to be narrow and commonly shared by hikers, bikers, horses and the occasional groundhog community. The trail continues in this condition for another 5.6-miles to the northern trailhead at Newville where there are very nice rest rooms and parking facilities just waiting for the trail improvements to reach them.

The trail runs through the fertile Cumberland Valley with only narrow strips of woods on either side separating it from the working farms that have been there for centuries. There are no picturesque streams, dark brooding forests nor soaring vistas here. This is peaceful, pastoral farmland dotted with homes that are 100 years old, and occasionally 200 years old that are not preserved as historic sites but rather are in daily use by those who operate the farms there."

"Two years after the previous review, this trail is still a ""work in progress."" Ballast work has only been completed from Shippensburg to about Oakville, a distance of about 4.5 miiles. Beyond that it's very rough going on grass and big gravel.

The boring scenery doesn't even make the trip to this trail worthwhile. Don't waste your time. Instead, try the Western Maryland Rail Trail near Hancock, MD. You'll appreciate the condition and views on this trail."

"We attempted this trail by bike from Newville hoping there had been some progress made in restoring it, but (at least in the Newville end) it appears there is MUCH more work to be done -- the trail was very narrow and almost overgrown in places, and the surface was grassy and quite bumpy, with many ruts and groundhog holes. We made it about 3 miles to the Nealy Road crossing (with very steep banks, probably was/should be a bridge) and decided to call it a day -- our bikes aren't ""mountain"" worthy, and this definitely is not a smooth paved or gravel trail.

This trail definitely has potential, though -- it travels through some beautiful countryside, and you really get the sense of being ""away from it all"" with no highway noise disturbing the ride. At this point, it seems perfect for walkers or horseback riders, but bikers used to smooth, maintained surfaces may want to wait a while before trying this part of the trail. "