Beautiful ride from Leeper to Mariane. Very nice trail for a fall ride.

Biked from Emlenton to just North of the Kennerdell tunnel at mile marker 110 and back for a 28 mile round trip. Beautiful Fall day and enjoyed the foliage.
Quite a few people out on the trail and all friendly.
We went though both tunnels so make sure you have a light. Take what you may need along your ride because there isn't anywhere along the trail to get anything. Trail services in Emlenton. Parking in Emlenton next to the Post Office on Main Street.

Have ridden the trail a couple of times. I was surprised when I got to Leeper at the 12.7 mile mark it was paved. It turned out it was paved the next 14.1 miles to the edge of the town of Marienville. I rode another .5 miles into Marienville on a cinder path and there is an old train station that it appears that is being fixed up. The trail appears to keep going up along Rt. 66 as a cinder trail. Also the tar and chip part of the trail was also paved. We rode on October 9 and the trees were in full color. The trail is now paved from the 0.7 mile marker(Rt. 322) to 26.8. The bad part of this trail is that it crosses Rt. 66 four times and the first two are on the dangerous side. Site distance is not great for cars going 55-60 mph. If you like paved trails, this is a must.

The 26 miles from SR 322 (Marianne) to Marienville are asphalt (no more tar and chip), and about half of that is new asphalt put down in 2020. About .7 mile in Marienville between SR 322 and SR 66 is coarse gravel, unmaintained, and little-traveled as of October 2020.

The trail follows a ridge between the watersheds of the Clarion River and Allegheny River. There is a very gradual elevation rise over the 26 miles, from an altitude of 1500 feet in Marianne to 1730 feet in Marienville.

The trail parallels busy Route 66 for its entire length, with the distance between trail and road varying between 30 feet and almost 1 mile. There are four dangerous crossings of Route 66 at which cars travel at speeds approaching 60 mph, and do not slow for cyclists. There are also gravel driveways and roads crossing the trail, some of them soft and a bit treacherous for bikes with narrow tires.

Along the trail you pass O’Neil’s Quality Foods (smoked meat, deer processing, etc) at the Marianne trailhead, Zacherl’s Farm Market south of Lucinda (hay rides and a field of pumpkins when I was there in mid-October), DB’s Smokin’ BBQ north of Lucinda, apple trees by the side of the trail, a huge field of corn, a friendly and very attractive horse, and the Shamrock Dining Room at Kelly Hotel in Marienville, among other attractions.

Hiked the southern part of the trail today. Saw deer and an Eagle who was flying just ahead of us today. This is definitely a trail we want to hike again

We had a great ride, beautiful, cool day for it. We started at the Leeper trailhead and did an in and out 16 mile ride toward Marianne. They just completed the asphalt and it made for a very smooth ride. Wooded areas had beautiful fall color, farmland with fields of corn made it look all golden, horses, cattle and saw big bear prints across the path. We will be doing this trail again, hopefully the whole length of it next time. We love this type of trail and highly recommend it ¿

2nd visit to this trail in 2020. Trying to complete the whole thing. Parked in Summerville and biked to Brookville. Had lunch in Brookville. There are several places in town just off the trail. Biked back to Summerville and past it towards New Bethlehem. 35 miles on the trail this day.
Surface is packed crushed limestone but bumpy in some places.
Saw all kinds of cool history along the trail. This section crosses the Redbank Creek quite a few times via very nice wooden bridges. In Summerville there is a service station a few blocks from the trail if you need water and/or snacks.
Enjoying this trail very much and hope to visit again this Fall. Right now still very green.

Just got done running on trail for 1st time since back from out West. I moved out here in 2005 and started running the trail and in all those years I have never been able to run in July.... what the Shenango River Watchers have done with the trail is nothing short of amazing! Thank you!!
Submitted by: E.K.

10/26/2020. Very scenic views and a nice ride with moderate obstacles.