Find the top rated wheelchair accessible trails in State College, whether you're looking for an easy short wheelchair accessible trail or a long wheelchair accessible trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a wheelchair accessible trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
I'm rating this trail for its future potential more than its current condition.
The two segments that currently exist are nice enough, and the trailhead in Castanea is great. The existing trail segments are well-maintained with decent scenery as they follow close to Bald Eagle Creek and the West Branch of the Susquehanna. They can also easily be connected by traveling a couple of miles on quiet roads in between.
When complete, this trail will effectively become a roughly 10-mile extension of the spectacular Pine Creek Trail, creating a continuous path from Lock Haven nearly to Wellsboro.
I spent a few days bikepacking to, from, and on the Pine Creek Trail in early October 2023, and I attempted to use the existing parts of the Bald Eagle Valley Trail since they were more or less along my route. On my way to Pine Creek I took the existing trail segment east from Castanea and then took the roads to the beginning of the second trail segment. I then rode the second trail segment and crossed the (fantastic) bridge over the West Branch of the Susquehanna. After studying maps and satellite images, I thought that it might be possible to exit the trail from the eastern end and continue on a local road toward Jersey Shore. However, the improved trail ends abruptly after crossing the bridge over the West Branch, and I found that there was definitely no way to access any road from this point (especially with a loaded touring bike). The banks on either side of the trail fell away steeply and were thick with brush, and the adjacent land was posted private property. The old rail bed obviously continued east from this point, but it was too overgrown with weeds to ride. I had to backtrack the second trail segment to the bridge on McElhattan Drive in order to cross the West Branch and continue on my way.
I really look forward to the day when I can hop on this trail in Castanea or Lock Haven (or maybe someday even further south?) and travel all the way to the beginning of the Pine Creek Trail in Jersey Shore...
I ride my bike on this trail everyday except when it's pouring rain or there is snow on the ground. It was just about perfect until Sunday, November 5th, 2023. One of those ride on leaf blowers started down by Dry Run Road and went to the top near Mullshoe. It blew off most of the pea gravel that was on the trail and exposed the big loose stones and the dirt. After just a little rain last night the trail was a muddy mess. I had to take off my sweat shirt before getting into my car because it was covered in mud on the back of it. By spring the trail will be a disaster.
Anyone who rides Rails to Trails and have been on this trail loved it like we have. The trail is well maintained and there is plenty to see like the history, the fauna and the wildlife. We have not completed MM 18 to Ebensburg yet but we plan to. We don't mark a trail as completed until we ride both ways because the view is so different. And this trail is no exception to that rule. We have done MM 1 to 15, then 15 to 18 to the CI extension to MM 9, to Duman Lake which for a 1/4 mile or so is a pretty nice single track. We plan on coming back in the spring when the rhododendron are blooming. Can't wait!
A few months ago we were camping in the Raystown Lake area and drove to the the trail head at Saylor park in Black Lick. We rode the whole trail to Ebensburg which was about 32 miles. It was slightly uphill that direction. We turned around and rode back to the truck the same day and it was slightly downhill and went much faster. It totaled about 64 miles for the day. So glad we took the time to finally do this ride It was wonderful. Great trail, great condition.
Wasn’t impressed not much scenery and trail just ended.
New to this app, but walked this complete trail in late July from shippensburg to newville, it’s well maintained along with beautiful scenery along the way.
I rode from Jersey Shore to outside of Wellsboro and back over two days. The trail is well maintained and number of spots you want to stop at and just watch world go by.
Some things to note:
Bring a physical map since cell phones don't work. The trail is well marked concerning the distance between location but without a map, you don't know where you are exactly. And there are no maps on the trail.
Wear sunscreen. If it's a sunny day, it can be brutal with the sun beating down on you.
Bring extra water. Aside from a few stores (Slate Run and Cedar Run) on the trail, there is no sources of drinkable water on the trail that I could find.
No shelters aside from comfort locations. If a storm rolls in, you’re out of luck.
Overall the trail is a wonderful and one I hope to visit again.
This trail is well maintained! And it's beautiful ¿¿ one of my favorites!
We started at west end of trail at Saylor Park in Blacklick. The parking area beside the baseball field was much to our liking (clean, paved, open and well used). We felt comfortable leaving our camping equipment in the back of the truck. According to the garmin (and our legs), the trail climbed approximately 40 feet per mile up the Heshbon, about 6 1/2 miles from our starting point. From Heshbon to where route 56 crosses over the trail, our turn around point, the trail eased to around 20 feet per mile of climb. Although taxing on the way up, the 10 mile trek back down the hill was well worth the effort expended on the outward half of the ride.
Trail attributes:
The surface consisted mainly of hard packed dirt with fine gravel making for fairly fast and stable riding conditions.
More shade than sun which probably saved us as the conditions were sunny with temperatures in the 90s.
Plenty of views of Blacklick Creek.
Only one road crossing.
Baseline:
Our home trails are Pine Creek and Buffalo Valley.
Our favorite trail is the Northwest Lancaster.
This has it all...well maintained and signed trail, multiple rest rooms and camping options along the way, some great towns you'll bike through to grab a bite to eat...you could even combine it with a backpacking or canoe trip.
My E bike is pedal assist / no throttle. Needed to see what the bike could do, and what I could do. Started in Grampian, and rode to the outskirts of Clearfield. Quite the downhill into Curwensville. Went about 10 miles and turned around. The last 5 miles was a major uphill climb that I never could’ve done on my regular bike. The E bike and I made it up with no problem. The trail was very diversified and beautiful and I got lots of exercise. Great ride. P.S. I’m 70 years young in case it matters.
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