Find the top rated birding trails in Johnstown, whether you're looking for an easy short birding trail or a long birding trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a birding trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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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