Find the top rated trails in Pittsburgh, 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.
Situated in downtown Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, the asphalt trail runs through a park setting on the former Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad close to the Beaver River and ending near the rugby...
Apollo's Kiski Riverfront Trail, built on the former M-Line Railroad bed, begins in downtown Apollo and follows the scenic Kiskiminetas River (called "Kiski" locally) to North Apollo. The nearly level...
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...
The first 0.5 mile of the Ligonier Valley Trail and Bikeway is now complete, linking the town's popular attractions: Fort Ligonier from the days of George Washington and the French and Indian War, the...
The Wheeling Heritage Trails running on the former B&O line are known locally as two trails that connect in downtown Wheeling: the Ohio River Trail and the Wheeling Creek Trail. The route is flat and...
The Three Rivers Heritage Trail evolved from five separate trails and today comprises several unique sections. Most of these segments are riverfront trails along both banks of the three rivers that...
Forbes State Forest and the adjacent state parks (Linn Run, Laurel Mountain, and Laurel Ridge) maintain the PWS Trail System, a network of snowmobile trails and forest service roads though the...
The Montour Trail follows a portion of the old Montour Railroad, which was built between 1877 and 1914 to link the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad with the region's many coal mines. Forming a...
Now the longest rail-trail east of the Mississippi River, the 150-mile Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) spans two states in its course along great rivers and across mountain passes. Running from...
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 Tredway Trail's full name is the Wynn and Clara Tredway River Trail, a 2.5-mile run on the eastern side of the Allegheny River just north of New Kensington. The trail is included in an initiative...
The Sheepskin Trail is a lovely rural trail located in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. The trail currently connects the town of Dunbar with the popular Great Allegheny Passage, just south of...
The Brooke Pioneer Trail follows the east bank of the Ohio River between Wellsburg and the Brooke–Ohio County line at Short Creek. Here the Brooke Pioneer Trail continues into Ohio County as the...
Trail users on this inviting corridor follow the path of an old Southern Pennsylvania Railroad line, in some places traveling alongside unused tracks (not to be confused with the newer Southwest...
The Westmoreland Heritage Trail is an excellent example of a family-friendly multi-use rail-trail. This crushed-limestone trail features reclaimed railroad bridges over the Conemaugh River and...
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...
Open since 1989, the creek-side Indian Creek Valley Trail traces the route of the Indian Creek Valley Railraod (ICVRR). Just north of Indian Head, you will come to a cluster of acid mine drainage...
The out-and-back Roaring Run is the third incarnation of this pathway. First to occupy the waterfront site was the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal towpath, which operated between 1825 and 1850. The...
A short, but sweet, unassuming trail which runs on former trolley right-of-way while flanked by Clearview Avenue above and Crafton Boulevard below. Provides a traffic-free alternative to busy Crafton...
Despite its eerie name, there's nothing scary about the Ghost Town Trail. It is actually named for the numerous towns that were served by the Ebensburg & Blacklick Railroad, as well as the Cambria &...
The Tredway Trail's full name is the Wynn and Clara Tredway River Trail, a 2.5-mile run on the eastern side of the Allegheny River just north of New Kensington. The trail is included in an initiative...
Trail users on this inviting corridor follow the path of an old Southern Pennsylvania Railroad line, in some places traveling alongside unused tracks (not to be confused with the newer Southwest...
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...
The Wellsburg Yankee Trail is a short, paved rail-trail that spans the entire length of Wellsburg, a small city on the Ohio River in West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle. The community trail runs...
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 Brooke Pioneer Trail follows the east bank of the Ohio River between Wellsburg and the Brooke–Ohio County line at Short Creek. Here the Brooke Pioneer Trail continues into Ohio County as the...
Situated in downtown Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, the asphalt trail runs through a park setting on the former Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad close to the Beaver River and ending near the rugby...
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...
Now the longest rail-trail east of the Mississippi River, the 150-mile Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) spans two states in its course along great rivers and across mountain passes. Running from...
Despite its eerie name, there's nothing scary about the Ghost Town Trail. It is actually named for the numerous towns that were served by the Ebensburg & Blacklick Railroad, as well as the Cambria &...
The Blairsville Riverfront Trail is a scenic woodland trail located along the Conemaugh River. The property the trail was built on is owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who maintain a...
A short, but sweet, unassuming trail which runs on former trolley right-of-way while flanked by Clearview Avenue above and Crafton Boulevard below. Provides a traffic-free alternative to busy Crafton...
About 60 miles south of Pittsburgh, the beautiful Greene River Trail parallels the Monongahela River as it winds through the coal mining region of Greene County. Conrail originally used the rail...
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...
Forbes State Forest and the adjacent state parks (Linn Run, Laurel Mountain, and Laurel Ridge) maintain the PWS Trail System, a network of snowmobile trails and forest service roads though the...
The Panhandle Trail is another jewel in the Pittsburgh metro area trail system. A Conrail line, known as the Panhandle Railroad, once connected Pittsburgh to Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis on this...
Morgantown is known as the home of West Virginia University, the inspiration for a Joni Mitchell song and the birthplace of Don Knotts. But it’s also known for its extensive rail-trail system along...
Apollo's Kiski Riverfront Trail, built on the former M-Line Railroad bed, begins in downtown Apollo and follows the scenic Kiskiminetas River (called "Kiski" locally) to North Apollo. The nearly level...
The Montour Trail follows a portion of the old Montour Railroad, which was built between 1877 and 1914 to link the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad with the region's many coal mines. Forming a...
The West Penn Trail, a National Recreation Trail, runs largely along the corridor of the Portage Railroad line that operated from 1830 to 1864 between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. The trail is steadily...
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...
Despite its eerie name, there's nothing scary about the Ghost Town Trail. It is actually named for the numerous towns that were served by the Ebensburg & Blacklick Railroad, as well as the Cambria &...
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...
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 Vestal Trail is 0.5-mile connection through town of McCandless that joins the Oakridge neighborhood to the playing fields at its eastern end. The trail is maintained by volunteers of the Rachel...
The Harmony Trail in the North Hills is a work in progress, managed by volunteers with the Rachel Carson Trails Conservancy. As of August 2011, about 1 mile of a proposed 4.3 miles of abandoned rail...
The Montour Trail follows a portion of the old Montour Railroad, which was built between 1877 and 1914 to link the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad with the region's many coal mines. Forming a...
The Airport Connector is a spur off the impressive Montour Trail that circles the western outskirts of Pittsburgh. The paved pathway begins just off the extended-term parking lot on the western end of...
The West Penn Trail, a National Recreation Trail, runs largely along the corridor of the Portage Railroad line that operated from 1830 to 1864 between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. The trail is steadily...
The scenic Coal & Coke Trail connects the communities of Mount Pleasant and Scottdale in Westmoreland County and offers many glimpses of the picturesque nature and local communities of Westmoreland...
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...
Less than an hour from Pittsburgh, the Little Crabtree Creek travels for just over a mile in Unity Township, east of Greensburg. This first phase of the trail opened in July 2014; a future phase will...
The out-and-back Roaring Run is the third incarnation of this pathway. First to occupy the waterfront site was the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal towpath, which operated between 1825 and 1850. The...
Open since 1989, the creek-side Indian Creek Valley Trail traces the route of the Indian Creek Valley Railraod (ICVRR). Just north of Indian Head, you will come to a cluster of acid mine drainage...
Morgantown is known as the home of West Virginia University, the inspiration for a Joni Mitchell song and the birthplace of Don Knotts. But it’s also known for its extensive rail-trail system along...
One of Pennsylvania's rail-with-trails, where trains and trail users share a corridor, the Arboretum Trail is a lovely landscaped trail through downtown Oakmont. The rail corridor has a dramatic...
Any trail with a name like "Hoodlebug" deserves a visit. The 10-mile trail follows the path of the 1856-era Indiana Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which ran from Blairsville north to the town of...
The Westmoreland Heritage Trail is an excellent example of a family-friendly multi-use rail-trail. This crushed-limestone trail features reclaimed railroad bridges over the Conemaugh River and...
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...
The Tredway Trail's full name is the Wynn and Clara Tredway River Trail, a 2.5-mile run on the eastern side of the Allegheny River just north of New Kensington. The trail is included in an initiative...
We were staying at the Ogelbay Resort in WV and took a ride on the Wheeling Heritage Trail which follows a portion of the Ohio River. The trail is ok but if your looking for a scenic trail along a river don't bother. The trail is paved and in decent shape but you see more of the gritty side of old industrial Wheeling than you see of the river. We're from the Pittsburgh area and in my experience the trails here are far superior.
Recently the crunched limestone was covered with asphalt from the east side of McDonald for at least 10 miles to the west. This is now an unpleasant ride. The area is surrounded by hard surface paved road. Why add more? It rides harder, hotter, doesn't drain as well and over time as it buckles and potholes what will maintenance be like? and what will it cost?
Trail has gone from one to enjoy to one to avoid.
This trail is one of my favorites. We have ridden from the Carnegie trail head to just across the WV state line and back several times. There is a small section of the trail that is loose gravel, but otherwise it is largely paved and a well-maintained trail. Depending on how far you're going, it does get a bit remote, so bring plenty of water and some snacks. Also, you will spend some time out of tree cover, so sunscreen is also a good idea.
We started on the little section of trail in Parker, thinking it would be easy to hop over from Foxburg to Emlenton on the roads - I would not recommend doing this. The short little Parker trail was idyllic, but the few miles from that trail's end to the next trail head in Emlenton was harrowing (riding on a main road - 268 I believe?- with heavy truck traffic was one of very few options). However, the rest of the ride to Oil City was quite enjoyable even though it rained through most of Day 1. As others have noted, there is a section of trail blocked by a landowner, and the detour around it is tricky (kids and inexperienced riders might have some trouble on the rockier sections, especially if it is wet as it was during our ride). The tunnels were fun, and we were glad to have our headlights along for them as they are quite dark. We stayed over night in an eclectic AirBNB in Oil City (look for "Deep River Guest House" on AirBNB) that met all of our bicycling needs (easy access from the trail, porch to lock up the bikes on, a quick walk or ride to restaurants, etc.), then journeyed back to Parker the next day. On the way back, we tried a different route from Emlenton to Foxburg, which was a different kind of challenge (a "roller coaster" township road with lots of loose, chunky gravel), which I would also not recommend doing. However, we rewarded ourselves with some samples at the Foxburg winery and made it the rest of the way. Looking forward to doing the Emelenton-->Oil City (or perhaps farther) trip again!
We started at the Clairton end of the trail, and I don't care to do it again. We biked about 7 miles out and turned around - only a small portion was on an actual trail, the rest was on back roads as well as a brief section on a fairly high-traffic road. Hoping to start at the other end next time and have a better experience.
This was our first long bike adventure ever. I've been retired several years and my wife retired last summer '16 from teaching. She had been a complete academic and never was interested in sports except when our kids were involved. Now, she loves exercising and gym workouts. We've done single day bike excursions, but nothing like this. We started in Homewood (Pittsburgh area) and rode far (52 miles) for rookies on the first day, to Connellsville. Unbelievably beautiful natural environment surrounded us every stroke of the pedal. First night we stayed at the Connellsville B&B and were very impressed with immaculate cleanliness, delicious breakfast, and pleasant owner, Lucille. After our 52-mile day, I was worried about my wife's physical well being, but by the next morning she felt much better and we were glad we had planned a much shorter ride (28 miles) Day 2 to Confluence. There, we stayed overnight at Parker House, also a pleasant stay, though no breakfast is included. We purchased simple breakfast food items at the local grocery store. The third day was our longest ride (62 miles), planned knowing the last 24 miles into Cumberland are downhill. Our daughter, husband, and granddaughters were waiting at Mile Zero with flowers and cheers. Just a beautiful, enjoyable, and educational trip. And you meet the kind, helpful, friendly people on the trail that help make this world a better place. Outstanding scenery, cool shade on hot days thanks to beautiful vegetation, historical passageway with awesome bridges and tunnels, well-maintained trails. We can't wait to do it again!
Can't say more been riding the YRT trail for years!!
Leisurely ride to Franklin. Overnight at Barnard House B&B (lovely) and back to Franklin the next day. Path was stellar. Smooth and level. The tunnels were an adventure. Bike headlights were enough, but it was still a surprise at how dark it is in the middle of the Kennerdell 3/4 mile. The detour at Sunny Slopes is a big disappointment and the road is not maintained well, so be prepared to dismount if you're on a road bike. Fortunately that detour is only 3/4 mile and most of can be ridden at this point, but at some point the state needs to exercise its domain rights and force the man who is blocking the improvement of the detour road to allow it. Ridiculous and mean-spirited. Lovely path, full of interesting sights and not crowded at all. Excellent.
Stopped for a ride on my way to NYC. Got an airbnb about a mile from the trail head in Emlenton, PA. Road to the bottom of the trail and back. Took about 4 1/2 hours-ish. Lovely scenery with a lot of shade along the way. Was only 80 degrees when I came through and I was told by my bnb host I lucked out on the weather (not sure what it's normally like there).
One thing I'll say in warning is that there are two tunnels on this trail which are somewhere from .5 to .75 of a mile in length and they are curved, so about 40 feet in, it's pitch black. There are reflectors on the path, but if you don't have a light with you, don't proceed (bring a light!). Even with a light it was still a bit creepy. The lower tunnel was also quite chilly. The upper one was only a bit cooler then the outside, but was very wet. I will be returning as I believe this links up with several other trails. There are some resort-ish/cabins (right after a non-paved diversion) along the path with some people who are oblivious to biking traffic. I had to go slow around those places so as not to collide with the clueless, but they were mostly just kids having fun, so I didn't mind. The majority of the trail was largely human free. Hard to believe, with such a nice trail; on a holiday weekend even (7/2/2017).
We rode from Saltsburg to Delmont and back on the advice of other reviewers. The trail is a little narrow in parts but not too bad. Even though it was 4th of July it wasn't too crowded. There is definitely a grade going to Delmont but there is also some uphill on the way back as well. Challenging for beginners I'm sure but a well maintained trail. Ran out of water on the way back and Slickville Grocery has a back entrance off the trail that was convenient.
Spent 2 days riding this beautiful trail stayed at a cabin at brick house b & b on June 26 and 27. 1st day ride from oak ridge to Brookville approx 39 miles round trip. Trail is well maintained with many trestles. Beautiful views. 2nd day ride approx 47 miles to the Armstrong trail. Picnic lunch at the coaling tower area on the Armstrong trail. Great trail 2 tunnels. Well maintained. Also a small lean to port potty and table shelter along the trail.
TrailLink is a free service provided by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (a non-profit) and we need your support!
