My boyfriend and I LOVED this trail!!!! We saw a bald eagle in a tree above us. The scenery was beautiful and so peaceful. Well maintained trail. We live just miles from Presque Isle and agreed we would go back to this trail before choosing the one close to home.

Great trail for a summer ride. Well shaded tree lined trail. There has been a lot of rain lately. It literally rained for days and days and all day long at that. French Creek was very high and there was a lot of water in the woods along the trail. The field near Meadville was also flooded.

Biked with a small group from Franklin to Sunnyslope. We rode South from approx mile marker 123 in Franklin to 111 at Sunnyslope. This is where the pavved trail ends and you would take the gravel section 3/4 of a mile to pick up the paved trail again. From Franklin to Sunny Slope is a nice 25 mile round trip all paved with very little grade. We met up with another group of riders as we stopped at the Belmar Bridge. It was nice to share trial stories at that time. As always, a great ride.

I visited this trail for the first time today. I had a fantastic experience. I parked in Hendersonville and rode the section in between Westland Branch junction and Library Junction. Three tunnels and many bridges. I saw two young bucks and a doe with two fawns. Trail was busy and must have passed nearly 150 other trail users or more. Trail was in great shape and beautiful. It was definitely worth the hour drive to get there and I will return again.

Smooth, some incline but relatively flat. Okay views, probably super nice in the fall. Very shaded which I loved!

My Ride: Hardtail mountain bike with 26x2.2in tires. Did entire trail in 2 days. Avg Speed: 12mph

DAY 1: Started at the parking lot in WV by RT 22. Rode 15miles to the middle of the trail at the parking lot in Bulger PA and back to WV. Then drove to camp at the Montour Trail Boggs Campsite in the parking lot for that trail. Free and fine for one night. Total: 31miles

DAY 2: Drove to Bulger PA trail parking lot (15min drive) and rode 13 miles to the end of the trail that dead ends in Rennerdale. End of the trail is a parking lot and it appears like the trail continues but it takes you to someone's backyard..... I recommend turning around at the rock quarry with pavilion and firepit seating area. Afterwards I rode back 13 miles to the car in Bulger. Total: 26miles

CLIMB/DESCENT
Weirton-Bulger: 400ft Climb
Bulger-Rennerdale: 300ft Descent

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Weirton WV - PA line: 4miles Rough gravel, not packed well. Ideal for 1.75in tires and wider, road bikes will work, just won't be much fun. The trail follows a creek and has plenty of seating and port-a-john's along the way. One of the most scenic parts of the trail if you can get past the bad gravel....

PA line - Bulger: 11miles Trail becomes asphalt. Wooded area with bridges over country roads and creeks. Very pretty. No restrooms but a couple nice overlooks with benches.

Bulger - McDonald: 5.5miles Begins with sweeping views of rolling hills with small wooded patches right outside of Bulger, then quickly becomes wooded around the trail for the remainder. The Montour Trail connects to the Panhandle Trail. THE MCDONALD TRESTLE BRIDGE IS NOT ON PANHANDLE TRAIL. Get there by taking the connection to the Montour trail and then turn left (south). The McDonald Trestle Bridge is a must see but don't let the pictures for this trail fool you, you have to go a bit out of your way to see the stellar view. Google McDonald Trestle Bridge and Montour Panhandle Connector.

McDonald - Rennerdale (End of trail): 7miles Towns get closer together and roads are a bit busier for a few miles. Also the trail becomes packed gravel soon after McDonald. A few spots are washed out but not bad. From about Oakdale to the end of the trail it is very smooth for being gravel. Also within the last few miles is a parking lot for the bike trail and Fossil's Cliff/Neville's Woods Hiking Trail. Less than 1/2 mile from the hiking trail parking lot is a rock quarry outcrop with a pavilion and seating area with large firepit. Basically this is the end of the trail. Only a road crossing and a parking lot is past this. If you miss the end of the trail and go past the last parking lot you'll end up in someone's back yard.

June 19, 2021
Husband & I, both in our mid 60’s, hopped on this trail at the parking lot where the Allegheny & Samuel Justice trails meet. The lot was a little tricky to find, it’s just a narrow driveway down off the main road, but the lot itself had plenty of parking, several fairly clean port-a-potty’s as well as a few covered picnic tables. The paved trail bed is smooth and fairly flat, making for an easy ride, one that enabled us to really enjoy the natural surroundings. The first few miles are alongside the main road, so there was some traffic noise to start, but after a bit, the two separated and the road noises disappeared. The river views are stunning, with multiple boaters, kayakers and fishermen along the lazy waters. Critters abound, we saw multiple rabbits and squirrels, the chipmunks enjoyed playing chicken with us. Momma dear and her spotted twins watched us warily, but continued snacking on the plentiful vegetation.
There is an area about 13 miles in where the trail evidently needed to skirt a small community and the trail bed is gravel. As a tentative rider, I walked the hillier section, but for the most part, I rode low & slow & managed to get to the other side unscathed. The next area was quite interesting, the summer/vacation communities with their sloping lawns and cabins on the hill were for the most part empty of their families.
Then came the Kennendell tunnel and going through it, you will understand the words “dark as pitch”. Even though we tested them the night before, my headlight didn’t work and his wasn’t bright enough to follow safely (did I mention that I’m a tentative rider??), so we walked through – easy peasy but flipping DARK!! And COLD – the temperature drops at least 15 degrees. Finally, daylight & we rode for another couple of miles, hitting 20 and turned around. Going back through the tunnel, I remembered the flashlight on my phone and Ta-Da, I managed to very, very carefully ride back through (was very proud of myself!). And then…it started to rain, which quickly turned into a deluge. I have never been that wet on a bicycle before! And that is about the only criticism I may have about this trail, there was no place along the 20 miles to get out of the weather. There are benches scattered about & a viewing station, but until we got back to the parking lot, nothing with a roof was available. Grateful it wasn’t a thunder storm.
All in all, I give this trail 4 stars for the ease of ride, maintenance, views and variety as well as accessibility, parking and restroom availability.

It was a nice late Spring evening for a ride on the trail. Not real crowded at that time of the day. Trail is asphalt paved in very good condition.

Been on most parts of this trail. Lisbon part is great. Tried recently opened
section North Shore Trail In Ashtabula which connects trail to lake Erie by Walnut Beach. Right off trail you enter 4 lane share the road, I road on sidewalk for this part. Then changed to 2 lanes for cars , 2 lanes for bikes. Turns west for short juant thru a park. Then go thru all nieborhoods till you get to Bridge St., after which you must carry bike up very steep, very long cement steps with no handrail to reach Point Park. Then you ride on to Walnut Beach. I did not carry bike up steps , I turned around and started back, did not see Lake Erie. This trail is all on street other than short part thru park. Will not go again.