If you are accustomed to riding the Great Allegheny Passage and other railtrails in Western PA, be advised, the West Penn Trail may not be what you expect. Much of the trail is steep, gravelly, single-track and, depending on the weather, muddy. It is, however, a fun ride through some beautiful spots, and you may find it well worth the effort. We did. (Road bikes not recommended.)

This was my first trip to a rail trail. I did not know what to expect. I must say I was very impressed by the condition of the trail considering the time of year. The trail was clear of almost all debris. I started at the Saltsburg end just down from the Westmoreland Heritage Trail connection. The first 4 plus miles are very easy as you follow the river, pretty flat. Then comes the Dick Mayer section, I'm not quite sure how long it was, certainly a few miles. This is way more challenging. Many changes in elevation, some pretty good extended climbs. You then come out at the Conemaugh River Dam, which is pretty cool. You go down to the river and across a stone bridge then a fairly long climb up to the top which is directly across from you r previous position on the other side of the dam. I took the trail which runs along the ridgeline. Some nice views to be had here. The trail continues down the other side of the mountain to a fairly flat section of several miles where you cross over 4 beautiful stone bridges. I'm a rookie so the return trip was pretty brutal but I will definetly return. Overall, This trail was very fun for mountain biking but I would not recommend the Dick Mayer section for average cyclists.

"I have ridden this trail several times before and really like the trail section from the Westinghouse trail end on up to the tunnel at Bow Ridge. The views from the bridges on the trail are really nice, especially around sunset, and the view of the bridges themselves from down at water level is nice as well....reminds me of the Monocacy aqueduct on the C&O Canal, only on a larger scale. The best place to get down to water level to see a bridge is at the third bridge...go to the end of the bridge and walk down the embankment on it's left side, it's the most gradual slope.....watch out for the riverbank because it's really soft and muddy.

This section of the trail is paved with a semi-coarse pavement, and is around 3.3 miles long. You'll often see the locals out fishing on this section of trail. This is the best section of the West Penn Trail to visit if you plan on going to it. They have built a trail connection/detour from this section, up over Bow Ridge and down into the Conemaugh Dam park that links the Eastern end up with it's Western trail section that runs to Saltsville, but it's kind of a rough connection.

At the end of the 3.3 mile section from Westinghouse to the tunnel the trail goes up up a set of stairs and a small switchback to get to the top of the hill. The stairs are fairly steep, but there is a ramp built into the side of them to make it easier push your bike up them. From the top of the hill the trail follows the ridgeline gently rolling along for around for .53 of a mile. At the end of this section you come out onto a dirt and gravel road that overlooks the Conemaugh Dam, from here you make a 180 degree turn to you left and follow this dirt road down to the bottom of the hill. Be carefull...the road is fairly steep and when I rode it the surface was fairly soft and loose from the lack of recent rain...you'll be on your brakes the whole way down. You'll pass several of the old canal and railroad tunnels on the way down the hill, and from the top of this section down to the last tunnel near the bridge is .39 of a mile.

From the tunnel the trail crosses over the bridge, which gives you a nice view of the railroad bridge, the river and the dam. At the end of the bridge the trail goes downhill to the left and down into Tunnelview Park. From here you go under the bridge, then uphill in to the Conemaugh Dam park. Straightahead near the road entrance to the park is the visitor's center...you'll see a sign near the right side of it for the Woodchuck Nature Trail. Get on the trail here, turn left on the trail behind the visitor's center and follow the gravel path that runs parallel to the main road leading out of the park. The distance from the last tunnel at the bridge, up into the park to the visitor's center is .85 of a mile.

From the visitor's center the connection path is crushed limestone/gravel, and runs along side the park road for a short distance before it turns off into the woods, following the Woodchuck Nature Trail. This section follows the nature trail for a short distance before you'll see a white cardboard sign for the West Penn Trail pointing you to the left, to go uphill through the woods...this section is a short combination of singletrack and fireroad-type of trail. The trail passes through a gate, across a road, then continues on the other side going gradually uphill. This section is similar to a fireroad in it's condition and the terrain it follows...kind of rough and rolling terrain. This section is around .95 of a mile long, until you get to the top of a hill and the trail starts heading down.

This short downhill section is about .3 of a mile long and is kind of treacherous due to it being downhill, and also the trail surface is heavily rutted, washboarded, and soft...I'd be carefull going down this section if you're an inexperienced rider.

From the bottom of the first rutted downhill section the trail continues along, crosses another road, and still has a fireroad feel to it due to it's condition, and the way it goes through the rolling terrain. There is another steep short downhill section that passes under an old road or railroad bridge...both this downhill section and the rutted one I mentioned above were steep enough to require using the grannygear chainring when coming back up them traveling in the opposite direction....in other words you'll be on the brakes hard going down. From under the bridge it's a short distance over some more rutted/washboard trail to the end of the connection link and the start of the Saltsburg section. Total length of this section from the bottom of the first rutted downhill section to the end is around 1.4 miles.

IMHO this connection section is not something I'd recommend to your typical casual cyclists...especially the older folks that I often see out riding Rails To Trails that have limited cycling abilities/skills. This connection is NOT level, not smooth, and is more like a fireroad or forest service road in it's character. If you have experience riding offroad on fireroads you shouldn't have a problem doing it, otherwise you'll probably be walking your bike on the steeper sections. The total distance for this whole connection link between the bottom of the stairs at the start of it on the Eastern end to it's Western end where it connects to the Saltsburg section came out to 4.48 miles on my bike computer.

I also did the Saltsburg section of the trail, which is a typical nice crushed limestone trail of about 3 1/2-4 miles long, until it ends in Saltsburg. Saltsburg has some historical plaques in town describing the canal and it's operation.

I also rode the Saltsburg to Trafford section of trail, that one crosses a nice bridge across the river at it's start before it passes through a road underpass. On the other side of the underpass the trail turns into a surface of fine compact original ballast dust...kind of like a ""normal"" Rail Trail, but black. The trail surface was OK, fairly smooth except for a few spots where there were washouts. This section of trail was pretty short, around 2.6 miles long, and dead-ends on an embankment overlooking a 2-lane road. "