Explore the best rated trails in Bethel Park, PA, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Beaver River Trail and Five Star Trail . With more than 51 trails covering 4459 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
I did this trail twice in a weekend. I liked it.
After going out and back on the MC Trail (only a five mile round trip but totally worth it!), I connected to the Mon River Trail.
Starting at Pricketts Fort, I only went about six miles or so to just beyond the dam before heading back to the trailhead.
That twelve mile ride on a cloudy, late October Saturday afternoon were plenty enough to get awesome views of the Monongahela River, its dam, homes (some stately; some not so much), and dazzling fall color. Plenty of photo ops await!
The trail is hard packed dirt, covered in a layer of golden leaves, and despite rain earlier in the day, it was still smooth, fast, and navigable. I would say it was almost as smooth as asphalt.
I would suspect that because of the continued threat of rain, I pretty much had the trail to myself. My shoes and bike got mud splattered, but it was worth it. The Mon River Trail (South) is worthy of your time, and worthy of its status as a Rails-to-Trails Hall of Famer!
Anyone who rides Rails to Trails and have been on this trail loved it like we have. The trail is well maintained and there is plenty to see like the history, the fauna and the wildlife. We have not completed MM 18 to Ebensburg yet but we plan to. We don't mark a trail as completed until we ride both ways because the view is so different. And this trail is no exception to that rule. We have done MM 1 to 15, then 15 to 18 to the CI extension to MM 9, to Duman Lake which for a 1/4 mile or so is a pretty nice single track. We plan on coming back in the spring when the rhododendron are blooming. Can't wait!
This is a really nice trail to ride. It is the closest trail to our house so it’s our go to trail. The northern end it is somewhat desolate, and sometimes we don’t even see any other riders! The lower end is a little busier, but fun! Be very careful between the YMCA and the Mariner around mile post 46. The trail is paved, but very, very bumpy! Especially in the right hand lane heading to Ford City. Bikers were actually walking their bikes through the stretch. I’m
A few months ago we were camping in the Raystown Lake area and drove to the the trail head at Saylor park in Black Lick. We rode the whole trail to Ebensburg which was about 32 miles. It was slightly uphill that direction. We turned around and rode back to the truck the same day and it was slightly downhill and went much faster. It totaled about 64 miles for the day. So glad we took the time to finally do this ride It was wonderful. Great trail, great condition.
My wife and I rode this trail on Oct 18,2023. We started at the Freeport end, doing the longest incline first to make the return trip easier. That was just a long ,steady, gradual climb. Not hard to do with probably nothing more than a two percent grade. Coming back from Butler was a slightly steeper (maybe 3%) climb but much shorter. We really liked this trail as it follows the Buffalo Creek for much of the ride and it goes through a lot of forested areas and farm fields lined with trees. There are plenty of benches to rest and enjoy the scenery. I think it could have maybe two more porta johns or restrooms. There are plenty of parking areas and trailheads. The Derailuer Bike Shop would have been a nice place to get something to eat or a snack along the way but it was closed for the season on weekdays now. Freeport had no place open to get some food after our ride, and from what we could tell, Butler had nowhere close to bike to for anything to eat or drink. Overall the trail was nice and I'd do it again.
Wasn’t impressed not much scenery and trail just ended.
Very nice ride till you get to Leetonia.Then it's brick roads and up and down street hills, then you're good to go on the other side of town to Washington ville.
Our annual ride on this trail! Trail is 21ish miles in length and goes from Butler to Freeport. Surface is crushed limestone. Most of it was very well packed but there were some areas where it was kind of loose so be careful. Uphill climb from the Freeport end. Most of the trail is well shaded. On a hot day, take lots of water! We parked at mile 4 at the Buffalo Creek Nature park. It's uphill the whole way towards Herman. But the glide back is enjoyable, It appeared the golf course is closed. The coffee shop along the trail near Herman was open but it's very seasonal. Enjoyed the ride.
We started at west end of trail at Saylor Park in Blacklick. The parking area beside the baseball field was much to our liking (clean, paved, open and well used). We felt comfortable leaving our camping equipment in the back of the truck. According to the garmin (and our legs), the trail climbed approximately 40 feet per mile up the Heshbon, about 6 1/2 miles from our starting point. From Heshbon to where route 56 crosses over the trail, our turn around point, the trail eased to around 20 feet per mile of climb. Although taxing on the way up, the 10 mile trek back down the hill was well worth the effort expended on the outward half of the ride.
Trail attributes:
The surface consisted mainly of hard packed dirt with fine gravel making for fairly fast and stable riding conditions.
More shade than sun which probably saved us as the conditions were sunny with temperatures in the 90s.
Plenty of views of Blacklick Creek.
Only one road crossing.
Baseline:
Our home trails are Pine Creek and Buffalo Valley.
Our favorite trail is the Northwest Lancaster.
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