Ghost Town Trail:
Pennsylvania
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Description:
A National Recreation Trail, the Ghost Town Trail is named for the numerous old mining towns along the corridor that were served by the Ebensburg & Backlick Railroad and the Cambria & Indiana Railroad. The trail winds though the scenic Blacklick Creek watershed, passing interpretive signs and historical artifacts including mining slag, railroad ties, and discarded rail cars. Just west of Vintondale is the Eliza Furnace, one of Pennsylvania's best-preserved iron blast furnaces. You're likely to encounter deer and chipmunks in the morning. Interpretive signage along the trail describes the effects of coal mining in the Black Lick Watershed and what is being done to remediate the acid mine drainage. There are 34 miles of completed trail running west to east between Black Lick and Ebensburg. An additional four mile siding turns north from the Rexis trailhead near Vintondale.
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Parking & Trail Access:
To Ebensburg trailhead: From Altoona, take Route 22 west to Ebensburg, turn right onto S. Center Street (TR219). The street will snake left, then right. Before it veers right, you will see the trailhead and parking straight ahead.
To Black Lick (Saylor Park) trailhead: From Altoona, take Route 22 west to Highway 119. Head north on 119. Proceed approximately two miles and turn right onto Main Street (Black Lick). Follow the road as it veers left (it becomes Old Indiana Rd). The entrance to Saylor Park will be on your left.
This trail is wheelchair accessible.
To get directions to all access areas along the trail, please visit http://www.indianacountyparks.org/trails/gtt/gtdirmap.htm
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Seasonal Restrictions:
The trail is open year round.
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Reviews: [1 trail ratings]
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Great Trail.
By ryweston on July 26, 2010
My friend and I left his home in Ebensburg and rode to Vintondale over the weekend. We enjoyed the downhill grade pretty much the whole way to Vintondale. Very nicely constructed. Everything was well thought out. We stopped by the AMD & ART park and enjoyed what they have done so far. We also stopped by the Eliza Furnace which was very neat to see. We plan on starting in Vintondale next time and checking out more of the trail. I highly recommend this trail to anyone! The climb back to Ebensburg was a good workout but not that bad.
Now open from Black Lick to Ebensburg
By Paul507 on November 07, 2009
As of September 2009, the bridges have been installed in the Dilltown area which makes the trail complete between Ebensburg and Blacklick. This is a beautiful trail with everything one could want in a trail, including some rest area, restaurants in Nanty Glo, not to mention beautiful scenery. You'll pass all types of scenery and probably see some wildlife at some point. Pretty flat with some section of incline, most notably from Vintondale to Nanty Glo.
Ghost Town Trail Complete
By icptamericorps on October 19, 2009
Project Summary

The project involved the installation of two pre-fabricated bridges at the Ghost Town Trail in Indiana County, PA.

Amerford Bridge is 224 feet in length and the Scott Glen Bridge is 125 feet in length. The bridges are named for two former mining towns once located along the trail. With the completion of the bridges and the construction of 6,000 feet of trail connecting them, trail users now have a continuous trail from Saylor Park (Black Lick, PA) to Ebensburg, a distance of 34 miles.

For more information about the Ghost Town Trail, visit Indiana County Parks & Trails (http://www.indianacountyparks.org/trails/gtt/gtt.html).


Funding Sources

Funding for this project came from the PA DCNR, PennDOT, and the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.

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Indiana County Parks & Trails
1128 Blue Spruce Rd.
Indiana, PA 15701

http://www.indianacountyparks.org/
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