Find the top rated dog walking trails in Franklin Park, whether you're looking for an easy short dog walking trail or a long dog walking trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a dog walking trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
Took advantage of the unseasonably warm temps near 80 and went for a Halloween afternoon hike. Parked at New Hamburg mile marker 4 and went south 1.5 miles and turned around. Low water levels in the Shenango River, very dry conditions. Some fall colors still holding on. Trail is very well maintained.
Took us a month, but finished today hiking this trail. And just one day with rain. Still stunned by the beauty of this part od Pennsylvania.
Foxburg to Parker section of the trail, 2.5 miles in length, paved, good condition. Follows the Allegheny River. We went to enjoy the Fall Foliage. Beautiful! Made an afternoon out of it: Bike ride, visited the winery and ate at the pizza shop. There is a hotel in Foxburg and noticed several cars parked in front of it with bike racks.
My husband and I ride this trail about 3-4x/month starting in Freeport. We always stop at the Derailleur Cafe which has great food—the most delicious grilled cheese (add the various relishes—you won’t be sorry!), roasted veggies over rice (add chicken or beans for a healthy lunch), fresh fruit smoothies and Leona’s Ice Cream sandwiches. It’s a darling cafe with good history (ask Dee about it—she loves to talk:-)). It’s opened daily in the summer, but due to lack of traffic, Fall has only weekend hours…11-3.
The trail itself is a nice workout—about 10 miles up a very gradual incline after the first 5 miles of flat, then down another 5 miles to Butler (we always turn around before town). We turn around to get back to Freeport all within about 3.5 hours. (If my husband is alone, he cranks it out in about 2.5). The views are along Buffalo Creek, Jones’ turkey farm (hold your nose during the heat of summer), and a cow pasture.
It’s a great, well maintained trail that’s well shaded in the summer months.
The trail is now far less rocky than it was for years, although rougher gravel patches still creep.
When heading to Boston from Pittsburgh on the GAP, you can use this "loop" option to avoid climbing a short, relatively steep area near the end of River Ridge Road, although you will be pretty close to Boston at that point, anyway. Taking the loop will get you to the Boston Bridge in a short time while riding through some industrial areas and neighborhoods. You will encounter very little vehicle traffic, if any at all. Most of the paved areas have been recently re-paved (2024) which makes the ride smooth for the most part. I use the loop just for a change of pace at times.
Time-wise, it makes no difference.
We started in Akron and rode about 18 miles north. Loved it!!!
10/18/24 beautiful afternoon ride. First time on this trail with our e-bikes. Loved it! We started Wehrum (mile 16) and went to Nanty Glo (mile 24?) slight uphill grade, not difficult. Return ride is slight downhill, no pedal assist needed. The washout had cones around it, and there was clear area for us to pass by. Some other areas have dips, but the trail was dry, lots of leaves fallen, but never felt unsafe. Only 1 restroom in this stretch, very clean. Lots of benches along the way.
My wife had a yen to do a through ride and chose the GAP trail as her goal.
We spent 5 days on the trail, starting in Pittsburgh, and finishing in Cumberland. Even with drizzling rain on several portions of the ride, we both count this as one of the best we ever rode.
The trail surface is so consistently even, it is easy rolling, especially once you cross the Eastern Continental Divide, where it steepens a bit, downhill. There was literally no trash to be found along the trail, and any debris from trees, like limbs, was quickly removed by the crews that do that. There were times when we rode many miles without seeing another rider, or crossing a road. Along the way we noticed many places to take a break, with benches or shelters, and near each trailhead you will find a bike maintenance stand, with tools and air pump. We stayed in Pittsburgh, Boston, Connersville, Confluence, Meyersdale, and finished in Cumberland. All the lodgings were very nice, and we left our vehicle at our hotel in Pittsburgh ( paid to park it there ) and hired a livery service to get us back from Cumberland to the steel city. If you are considering this trail, go do it ! It was great.
Beautiful trail however most dog owners do not have their dogs on a leash. You will also see 4 wheelers on the trail and other motorized vehicles
My wife had a yen to do a through ride and chose the GAP trail as her goal.
We spent 5 days on the trail, starting in Pittsburgh, and finishing in Cumberland. Even with drizzling rain on several portions of the ride, we both count this as one of the best we ever rode.
The trail surface is so consistently even, it is easy rolling, especially once you cross the Eastern Continental Divide, where it steepens a bit, downhill. There was literally no trash to be found along the trail, and any debris from trees, like limbs, was quickly removed by the crews that do that. There were times when we rode many miles without seeing another rider, or crossing a road. Along the way we noticed many places to take a break, with benches or shelters, and near each trailhead you will find a bike maintenance stand, with tools and air pump. We stayed in Pittsburgh, Boston, Connersville, Confluence, Meyersdale, and finished in Cumberland. All the lodgings were very nice, and we left our vehicle at our hotel in Pittsburgh ( paid to park it there ) and hired a livery service to get us back from Cumberland to the steel city. If you are considering this trail, go do it ! It was great.
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