Find the top rated trails in Oil City, whether you're looking an easy walking path or a long bike trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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Connecting Oil City and Franklin, the Samuel Justus Trail is a 7.1-mile segment of a 30-mile trail that follows the former Allegheny Valley Railroad. The A.V. was completed to Oil City in 1868 and...
Rail 66 Country Trail is a rustic trail paralleling Route 66, that begins in the Village of Marianne near the Clarion Junction (SR 322/SR 66) and extends north to the Clarion/Forest County line. The...
Western Pennsylvania had a booming coal industry during the late 1800s, and a number of coal mines and coke ovens sprang up along Mahoning Creek, a tributary of the Allegheny River that runs through...
Located on the western side of the Allegheny National Forest, this trail extends north to south, parallel to the Allegheny River from the town of Tidioute to Grove Run. The trail retains much of the...
The Clarion Highlands Trail is one of the highest rail-trails in the Commonwealth. It traverses the Allegheny Plateau, passing over the divide between the Clarion and Allegheny Rivers, and follows the...
The Trout Island Trail is planned to be a 13-mile rail-trail along the former Erie and Pittsburgh Railroad. Currently, 2.4 miles are open and fully paved in Sharpsville, following the Shenango River...
With a wide, paved pathway and adjacent equestrian trail running through lush woodland and riverside terrain, the Allegheny River Trail (ART) has something to offer every trail enthusiast. Following a...
The short but scenic Cowanshannock Trail is a great pathway for hikers, walkers, and bikers to use to link to the larger Armstrong Trail. The Cowanshannock is 1.27 miles long, and plans are to extend...
Kinzua Valley Trail is nestled alongside the wooded Kinzua Creek within the Allegheny National Forest of northwestern Pennsylvania. The trail begins in Westline at a trailhead with a large parking lot...
Built in 1871 to transport the region's high-quality limestone to support Pittsburgh's growing steel industry, the Butler-Freeport line was the first railroad in Butler County. After a two-day...
Along its 6-mile path, this paved rail-trail crosses through a rich array of natural habitats, from creek bottomlands to meadow, marsh and forest. The trail is named for Calvin Ernst, who owned the...
The Sandy Creek Trail carves its way through some of the most remote and spectacular countryside in northwestern Pennsylvania. This 12-mile paved trail has some impressive features, including tunnels...
The Bayfront Connector Trail, also known as the Bayfront Bikeway, offers a paved route across the city of Erie in northwestern Pennsylvania. At its east end is the Penn State Behrend campus; from...
In western Pennsylvania, the Armstrong Trail offers 30 miles of improved trail with several short on-road sections between Rosston and East Brady in Armstrong and Clarion Counties. North of East...
The John C. Oliver Multi-Purpose Loop Trail is a centerpiece of Maurice K. Goddard State Park, which spans more than 2,000 acres in northwestern Pennsylvania. The paved, off-road trail traces the...
The Oil City Trail connects the Samuel Justus Recreation Trail and the McClintock Trail through the center of Oil City, Pennsylvania. The 2-mile walking and biking pathway runs along the Allegheny...
As it winds along Oil Creek, McClintock Trail connects Oil Creek State Park with Oil City. Note that much of the route is on-road. Just south of the park, a 1.8-mile section on Waitz Road, a dirt...
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The Pennsylvania Railroad originally built the Chautauqua Line as part of a network of rail lines that linked Corry, Titusville, Oil City, Franklin and Meadville during the boom days of the oil...
The Titusville and Petroleum Center Railroad had one major purpose when it was built in 1863: to transport oil. Oil was discovered in Oil Creek Valley in 1859 by Colonel Edward Drake and William...
This moderately difficult trail features great views of Minister Creek and passes by several outstanding rock outcropings, the latter about 1 mile from the trailhead parking lot. This heavily used...
Constructed in 1983 with the help of donations from the Stavich Family and local individuals, the Stavich Trail is unusual in several ways. First, unlike most rail-trails, it was built on an...
This picturesque trail meanders along the Wild and Scenic Clarion River and Little Toby Creek through Elk and Jefferson counties between the charming small towns of Ridgway and Brockway. Tree cover...
The Pennsylvania Railroad originally built the Chautauqua Line as part of a network of rail lines that linked Corry, Titusville, Oil City, Franklin and Meadville during the boom days of the oil...
Rail 66 Country Trail is a rustic trail paralleling Route 66, that begins in the Village of Marianne near the Clarion Junction (SR 322/SR 66) and extends north to the Clarion/Forest County line. The...
This moderately difficult trail features great views of Minister Creek and passes by several outstanding rock outcropings, the latter about 1 mile from the trailhead parking lot. This heavily used...
This trail is not groomed. Three stacked loops offer a variety of hiking and skiing opportunities at a range of difficulty levels. The trail starts out on a railroad grade along Big Mill Creek. This...
With a wide, paved pathway and adjacent equestrian trail running through lush woodland and riverside terrain, the Allegheny River Trail (ART) has something to offer every trail enthusiast. Following a...
The Shenango River Trail once served as a towpath along the Erie Canal Extension. During the mid-1800s, mules pulled boats along the canal, linking goods from the Great Lakes to Pittsburgh and beyond....
The Oil City Trail connects the Samuel Justus Recreation Trail and the McClintock Trail through the center of Oil City, Pennsylvania. The 2-mile walking and biking pathway runs along the Allegheny...
Crossing the state line into New York near Erie, Pennsylvania, the 7-mile trail runs through the beautiful Brokenstraw Valley, passing small streams, a tamarack swamp, deciduous woods and...
The Sandy Creek Trail carves its way through some of the most remote and spectacular countryside in northwestern Pennsylvania. This 12-mile paved trail has some impressive features, including tunnels...
The Clarion Highlands Trail is one of the highest rail-trails in the Commonwealth. It traverses the Allegheny Plateau, passing over the divide between the Clarion and Allegheny Rivers, and follows the...
In western Pennsylvania, the Armstrong Trail offers 30 miles of improved trail with several short on-road sections between Rosston and East Brady in Armstrong and Clarion Counties. North of East...
Western Pennsylvania had a booming coal industry during the late 1800s, and a number of coal mines and coke ovens sprang up along Mahoning Creek, a tributary of the Allegheny River that runs through...
Redbank Valley Rail Trail follows the old Allegheny Valley Railroad, which dates back to 1873. Mile 0 for the trail is at its west end, where the trail meets the Allegheny River and the Armstrong...
Located along the banks of Conewango Creek, the open 3-mile segment of this proposed 11-mile trail follows an old New York Central branch north from the city of Warren. Designed to serve primarily as...
Tracing a section of the abandoned Rural Valley Railroad corridor the Great Shamokin Path parallels the Cowanshannock Creek for 3.5 miles. The eastern part of the trail, which is surfaced primarily...
The Mill Creek Trail serves as a connector between Twin Lakes Recreation Area and the Brush Hollow Trail. Just south of Forest Road 138, the Mill Creek Trail leaves the Twin Lakes Trail and heads...
The short but scenic Cowanshannock Trail is a great pathway for hikers, walkers, and bikers to use to link to the larger Armstrong Trail. The Cowanshannock is 1.27 miles long, and plans are to extend...
Moraine State Park features a nearly seven mile bike trail, which follows the north shore of Lake Arthur. Along the way, you'll enjoy beautiful scenery, especially during the fall as trees line the...
Located on the western side of the Allegheny National Forest, this trail extends north to south, parallel to the Allegheny River from the town of Tidioute to Grove Run. The trail retains much of the...
The route is primitive and unimproved. The trail crosses several streams that are not bridged. The trail follows the scenic Tionesta Creek with lots of great scenery and fishing.
Located along the banks of Conewango Creek, the open 3-mile segment of this proposed 11-mile trail follows an old New York Central branch north from the city of Warren. Designed to serve primarily as...
Connecting Oil City and Franklin, the Samuel Justus Trail is a 7.1-mile segment of a 30-mile trail that follows the former Allegheny Valley Railroad. The A.V. was completed to Oil City in 1868 and...
Tracing a section of the abandoned Rural Valley Railroad corridor the Great Shamokin Path parallels the Cowanshannock Creek for 3.5 miles. The eastern part of the trail, which is surfaced primarily...
Redbank Valley Rail Trail follows the old Allegheny Valley Railroad, which dates back to 1873. Mile 0 for the trail is at its west end, where the trail meets the Allegheny River and the Armstrong...
The Oil City Trail connects the Samuel Justus Recreation Trail and the McClintock Trail through the center of Oil City, Pennsylvania. The 2-mile walking and biking pathway runs along the Allegheny...
Moraine State Park features a nearly seven mile bike trail, which follows the north shore of Lake Arthur. Along the way, you'll enjoy beautiful scenery, especially during the fall as trees line the...
This trail is not groomed. The three loops are suitable for beginners. The trail is marked with blue diamonds. Check out the short 1.2 mile Hearts Content Interpretive Trail which offers a scenic hike...
Western Pennsylvania had a booming coal industry during the late 1800s, and a number of coal mines and coke ovens sprang up along Mahoning Creek, a tributary of the Allegheny River that runs through...
The Titusville and Petroleum Center Railroad had one major purpose when it was built in 1863: to transport oil. Oil was discovered in Oil Creek Valley in 1859 by Colonel Edward Drake and William...
The Sandy Creek Trail carves its way through some of the most remote and spectacular countryside in northwestern Pennsylvania. This 12-mile paved trail has some impressive features, including tunnels...
With a wide, paved pathway and adjacent equestrian trail running through lush woodland and riverside terrain, the Allegheny River Trail (ART) has something to offer every trail enthusiast. Following a...
The Marienville Bike Trail is part of a system of roads and trails in the Allegheny National Forest. The trails are open to mountain bikes, trail bikes, and ATVs and are rated as difficult because of...
In western Pennsylvania, the Armstrong Trail offers 30 miles of improved trail with several short on-road sections between Rosston and East Brady in Armstrong and Clarion Counties. North of East...
This moderately difficult trail features great views of Minister Creek and passes by several outstanding rock outcropings, the latter about 1 mile from the trailhead parking lot. This heavily used...
This 3-mile trail within the city limits of Titusville extends from the Jersey Bridge parking lot, adjacent to the Drake Well Museum, to South Martin Street in Titusville. A section of the trail at...
The Clarion Highlands Trail is one of the highest rail-trails in the Commonwealth. It traverses the Allegheny Plateau, passing over the divide between the Clarion and Allegheny Rivers, and follows the...
Crossing the state line into New York near Erie, Pennsylvania, the 7-mile trail runs through the beautiful Brokenstraw Valley, passing small streams, a tamarack swamp, deciduous woods and...
The short but scenic Cowanshannock Trail is a great pathway for hikers, walkers, and bikers to use to link to the larger Armstrong Trail. The Cowanshannock is 1.27 miles long, and plans are to extend...
The Shenango Hiking Trail has recently been taken over by a new organization and they have lots of work ahead of them. As the other reviews say, the bridges need lots of work, and there are parts of the trail (especially between New Hamburg and Kidds Mill) that are impassible. It will take a few years, lots of money, and lots of hard work to get this trail up and running. If you are interested in doing trail maintenance or volunteering please email info@shenangoriverwatchers.org
If you would like to hike this trail you should definitely try the section between Big Bend and New Hamburg. The hanging bridge needs repaired, but can be bypassed if you are adventurous.
This trail is meant to be followed in a single file line, and was not intended for bikes, but some mountain bikers do still run it. The trail is also used by local equestrian clubs.
This trail tends to be very wet year round. Many locals suggest avoiding the trail during the summer months due to poison ivy! Unfortunately in Western PA there is little we can do to control the poison ivy especially in a natural setting. With our winters becoming more and more mild, poison ivy and tick populations are becoming even harder to control. Please be smart when hiking and always wear proper attire.
Fall of 2018 a storm washed out a section of the trail, and bridge along the new section on the Beans Trailhead end of the trail. Recently a tree has fallen and taken out the railing of another bridge but you can cross the bridge. Refer to their Facebook page for updates on the progress. In the meantime, trail is clear from Beans Trailhead (Route 322) to Krider Road Trailhead (Route 19).
Pros: spectacular scenery, paved surface, history, tunnels! Never seems to get packed like sections of the Great Allegheny Passage do on summer weekends or holidays.
Cons: Here’s why i don’t think that the ART will rival the GAP in terms of ridership volume in the near future: first, as others have said, for long stretches there are no restrooms, water or amenities such as benches, picnic tables, etc. that make a trail truly user friendly. This is hard on some people, especially kids, and there’s really no place to find a ‘green restroom’ if you know what i mean given all the no trespassing/private property/keep out signs along the way. Second, the stubborn property owner and the ROW issue really need a solution so that the trail is seamless end to end. The GAP and the parent company of Sandcastle finally finally worked out a right of way solution, as they did with a warehouse at the Waterfront. It can be done.
One of the nicest days weather wise we've had in about 6 weeks! Took advantage of the 60 degree temp and hit the trail. Always a great ride, the trail offers flat open areas and some hills.
Some restrooms are open along the trail.
On Black Friday, took advantage of the Opt to be Outside event and put in a few miles on foot out of New Bethlehem. Nice trail follows Redbank Creek. Trail is packed crushed limestone. In New Bethlehem there are several places to eat. Also near the trail is Gumtown Park with a picnic area. There is a dam along Redbank Creek in New Bethlehem. Parking in town on Arch Street near the Fire Department.
I rode this trail in the early summer of this year (2018). I parked at the trail head across from the super market in downtown Brookville. Luckily, there were just a few cars and I was able to turn my van around and park near the gazebo. Otherwise, I don't think I would have been able to pull my van out of any of the provided parking spots had the lot been full. Its a very narrow lot!
But once on the trail I was very impressed with how beautiful and scenic it was. I'm from Akron and I bike the Cuyahoga Valley Canal system a lot. I enjoyed the remoteness. I must have only passed 12 other riders on my way down to New Bethlehem and back. The ride took 5.5 hours to complete. It did not include a 45 min. layover in NB to eat at Fox's Pizza.
I believe this section is about 22 miles one way, 44 total.
It has a consistent surface that's easy to ride. a few beautifully built picnic areas along the way. The bridges over the river make for spectacular views. My favorite section was through a deep gorge that made for a cool rest stop. Cool meaning, the temp was 10-12 degrees cooler. I loved the wind chimes way up the steep wall in this section! I saw a few deer and one big black snake stretched across the trail. It wouldn't move to let me pass, so I had to detour off the trail around it while screaming like a girl because I hate snakes!!
It's been cold for quite a while now but one Sunday the temps got up into the 40's and a lot of people took advantage of the trail that day. Cyclists, walkers, and runners. It was good to see that many people out. Most of the restrooms are closed for the Winter but there are still a few open. The marina is empty as all the boats were removed. Saw 2 different bald eagles.
Parked at the Butler end of the trail at Fellowship Crossing. Biked uphill to Cabot and back, which was 10 miles each way. Coming back about the last 6 miles is downhill into Butler.
The trail is gravel. Some sections of the trail seemed to be washed out.
Towards the Butler end the trail is only a few feet wide.
But still a nice trail.
If you go from Butler to the other end in Freeport it's 21 miles.
We drove to Emlenton where we picked up the trailhead and headed north. The scenery was beautiful riding along the river. Being October, the trail was heavily covered in fallen leaves, which made it difficult to see the hooved up asphalt on the trail. We were surprised that the trail was so bumpy, and it made for careful riding. There was one spot just north of the first tunnel that was very bad where water bottles bounced out of my basket onto the trail. Some kind of marking would definitely be helpful in that spot. The tunnels were exciting and scary at the same time, especially meeting riders coming from the opposite direction. The reflectors are positioned so the trail is split into two lanes through the tunnel, but we found it difficult to stay in one lane without running over the middle reflectors. Next time I will get a headlamp and not hold a flashlight. We weren't sure what to expect from the detour after reading others' reviews. I have to say it wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. The detour took us onto a wide uphill rocky path - great for mountain bikes but not road bikes. We pushed our bikes on the inclines and rode on the downhill grades. I have to caution other riders on the last long, downhill grade. Even with braking to a slow ride, I still skidded out and wrecked into a ditch. First wipe out for me. My husband said we were 100 feet from reconnecting to the asphalt trail. Overall the trail is level, but we did notice a very slight incline riding north to south, which probably explains why the first 17+ miles were so easy! It is constant peddling either direction. It was definitely a ride to remember and well worth the 90-minute drive from NE Ohio. As others have stated, you need to carry adequate fluids and be prepared if nature calls. We only saw the one porta potty at the trail head in Emlenton. Because we thoroughly researched the reviews, we were prepared. We rode from Emlenton to Brandon, covering 35.5 miles roundtrip. Next time we will go to Oil City and ride south and cover that section of trail. I would give the trail a 4-4.5 only because of the lack of facilities and the maintenance needed on the trail.
Though this trail is relatively short, it's short and sweet and to the point! Basically flat trail runs from Sharpsville to the rail trestle on Shenango Lake. Some of the trail is canopy shaded and other areas are open. There is street parking at the Sharpsville end, and a small lot towards the end of the trail at mile 1.9. Completely asphalt paved. The trail passes the Shenango Dam as well as the lake. For a side trip, you can venture into Sharpsville and check out the old canal lock. Off the trail is some great fishing!
trail was well maintained. rode right along river. we started at cowanshannock trail and headed up river. parking easy to find. mild grade nothing exceptional. after bike ride, we walked cowanshannock trail to see buttermilk falls.
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