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Print Friendly MapLocated in beautiful Sinnemahoning State Park in Pennsylvania, the Lowlands Trail uses the former corridor of the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad. The trail and park are now part of the tour development area known as PA Wilds.
The Lowlands Trail provides good access to the regions natural areas rich with wildlife habitats, including Bald Eagle as well as Elk. The Park offers interpretive tours along the trail and can be contacted for their latest schedule. (Not to be confused with another Lowlands Trail at Chapman State Park near Allegheny National Forest)
The trail is easiest to find via. the Simmemahonig State Park Office, which also serves as the northern trailhead. Towards the south of the trail, the trail passes the Maple 40 day use area, which also has restrooms and parking access.
This trail is easy to find from either the Simmemahoning Park Office or the Wildlife Viewing Area which is a mile north of the park office. There are parking lots and rest rooms in both areas. The park office is manned during the day. The trail is flat and wide. Great for families. The southern part of the trail passes 40 Maples day use area. There are restrooms at 40 Maples. South of 40 Maples the trail exits onto and shares the park road that goes to the lake. Can be ridden using mountain bikes or gravel bikes.
We biked the first 3 miles of this trail (6 miles round trip) from the Wildlife Viewing Area to the 40 Maples Picnic Area. Perfect trail for families. Our kids ages 11, 9, and 6 loved it! The trail follows the river and then goes through a forested stretch. Lots of possibility for wildlife viewing along the trail. A mile in you can bike up to the gorgeous Wildlife Center/Park Office.
I biked this trail on 7/18/2020. I initially attempted to find this trail by entering the Sinnemahoning State Park at its south entrance. That was a mistake since this trail does NOT have a trailhead at is southern end unless you wish to bike the park road to get to the trail. Also, it is VERY easy to miss the trail entrance at its southern end. The best location to access this trail is from its northern end where there is a nice sized trailhead parking area. The Trailhead parking area is accessed by taking the 1st road off to the right AFTER passing the Park Entrance at its North End. The Trail is initially pretty flat with a very, very slight downhill grade from the Northern Trailhead and is on a crushed limestone surface; i.e. your typical Rail-Trail. However, at the 2 mile mark where the trail initially crosses over the Park road, the trail veers off the original railroad Right Of Way (ROW) and ascends significantly as it winds its way thru the forest laden with pine trees on a narrow path and then descends sharply back down to the park road. After crossing the park road, the trail gets back on to the Original Railroad ROW. But unlike the trail surface at its northern end, this section of the trail is covered with a rough grass surface for about 3/4 of a mile before the trail makes a very sharp U turn and ascends a VERY steep hill before terminating at the Park Road. Feel Free to reference the DCNR Map: http://elibrary.dcnr.pa.gov/GetDocument?docId=1737237&DocName=SINN_ParkMap.pdf. According to my bike odometer which is accurately calibrated, I had 4.56 miles from the Northern Trailhead to where the trail terminates on to the Park Road.
I found this trail and since it was a wet Monday we gave it a try. We started at the lot by the dam. The trail consists of the park road that leads to the gravel trail. We started out on a steep uphill climb. I’m not in the best shape but managed to pull myself up the hill. The ride downhill was worth it. The trail passes through a picnic area and the gravel portion through marsh. We saw turkeys . There is an elk viewing pavilion at the end of the trail. On the way back the hill is long but not too steep. We got back to the parking lot I decided to ride down the dirt road about a quarter mile and glad I did. I chased out an immature bald eagle
This trail is nice. It's about 6 miles long has small inclines and declines. The first 3 miles are paved and the traffic flows in a one direction. There is very little traffic on the road normally. At mile three the trail breaks to the right and extends for another 2 1/2 miles through the forest. There are no cars permitted on this part of the trail. The only think to make it better would be to make it longer.
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