Find the top rated running trails in Confluence, whether you're looking for an easy short running trail or a long running trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a running trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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PA-Cumberland 5/2023. Loved this trail with lots of places to camp, a winding and entertaining trail, views of the river, tunnels, small towns along the way. I particularly liked Frostburg and camped two nights. The switchbacks up to town aren't as miserable as some describe and the view is rewarding. The Toasted Goat in Hotel Gunter is an old hotel worth a walk around and a meal. Check out the basement holding cell and speakeasy.
Up and back will get you close to 15 miles. The trail is well maintained and looks like they are expanding it. The old line has been cleared to the rail bridge. I am looking forward to that.
this was very hard with a lot of elevation. better to ride from morgantwon and back. i did the opposite. reedsville is very remote. this is the hardest of the three morgantown trails
We rode the trail the week of Christmas (no snow). You CAN go all the way from Elkins, thru the construction, all the way to Hendricks. You can also ride the “proposed future trail” all the way to Thomas… and it’s beautiful in there! We were on gravel bikes and had zero issues. A mountain bike would work but not a road bike. Enjoy the entire trail if you have the fitness for it- it’s beautiful!
When other bike trails are soggy or mushy is go on this one. This is my go to bike trail. Only some of it is paved if you are not on the rode. It’s mostly asphalt and not completely flat.
It's a nice walking trail, or if you're taking it to get to the MTB trails. But, if you have a road bike you should just take the road. It's a shame they couldn't have used crushed gravel so roadies could bypass the section of road past the Elks. As it is, it's worthless for road bikes.
A decent trail. I've run on it multiple times before as well as biked., relatively safe. Never went beyond the busy street but it's quiet. Decent location as I grew up in that area.
Not only does the nice looking pump with all the tools at the parking not work, it let the air out of my bike tire. It was useable when I arrived, should not have trusted it. No ride today.
I rode this trail a week ago as part of a loop on the Indian Creek Valley Trail. The trail is easy to find and was relatively easy to ride on a gravel bike with 700 x 38 tires. There is a trail that splits off halfway but just stay straight and you'll be fine. There's really no issues with riding this unless you're trying to ride it on a skinny tire road bike. I enjoyed the trail.
I rode this trail on November 1st, a sunny but windy fall day. The leaves were off the trees mostly but were a beautiful carpet of color on the ground. I have ridden here before but never this late in the year and not for a few years. I started in the town of Indian Head as I always do. I first headed south and right away you do have to take a quick jog west on Indian Head Rd but the trail is easy to find. This section was in great shape and the tread was excellent. I rode south to the gate and seeing that people were continuing south on the unfinished section I rode on about .3 miles but there were some mud holes and the tires on my gravel bike weren't up to that task. Next time I'll bring the mountain bike and go further.
I went back to Indian Head and headed north. This was an extremely pleasant trail with what I can honestly say is the smoothest path (outside of pavement) I've ever ridden. It's actually smoother than some pavement. I flew along with only a few people on the trail until the town of Champion. Here you have to ride back Roaring Run Rd a short distance to regain the trail. From here on the trail, while still full width is only single track. For the most part though this single track is very smooth and quite rideable. At Jones Mills the trail ends in a short but steep climb up to Rt 31. As others have noted, there is no parking here.
I continued this ride by carefully crossing Rt 31 and riding down Rt 381 a short distance to the Blair Brothers Trail. This is a fairly easy 1.5 mile ride through the woods to a dirt road before turning around.
All-in-all, this is a great trail and likely to be much less crowded than the GAP. There is a diner in Indian Head (the Creekside Diner) if you need something to eat. I did not check it out though. Go and enjoy the trail.
I biked from Pittsburgh to DC (GAP and C&O trails combined) 9/8 thru 9/14/24. This review is for the C&O only. Weather – excellent. Scenery- beautiful. Accommodations – very good. Trail surfaces –highly variable from narrow dirt paths laced with muddy holes to relatively smooth, hardpacked dirt to loose gravel (better for a pickup truck than a bicycle!). From 10 miles south of Great Falls into DC the trail/road was especially rough. I was riding an Off-road bike with 40 MM wide tires and momentarily lost front tire stability in MANY spots due to loose gravel (especially on the sloped paths leading into & out of lock areas). My biggest safety concern were the numerous concrete bridges over creeks & culverts that had ZERO guard rails, warning signs or even yellow paint. The bridge widths were narrower than the trail requiring the biker to NOTICE and move more to the center for safety. If a biker went off the side of any of these bridges, I’d expect serious injuries or worse. The worst safety hazard was at Lock 38. Approaching the lock from the southwest side, the (main) trail leads right across the top of the lock wall- that is 3 to 4 ft wide with only an outer rail – very dangerous. The drop off to the grassy floor below was about 7-9 feet straight down. I was in a group of riders that suddenly saw this “tightrope” situation and jammed on their brakes. (Nobody realized we should have diverted onto a narrow, unmarked path that led downward through the lock.) Fortunately, everyone stopped safely; walked their bikes down a slope and on to the safe path through the bottom of the lock. A simple, cheap sign could prevent the near-miss accidents at this spot.
I’m really disappointed that this National Park hasn’t (at least) marked these safety hazards. Considering all the hazards and the rough gravel, I think this C&O Towpath trail merits 2 stars.
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