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Print Friendly MapThe scenic 1.1-mile Cowanshannock Trail is a great pathway for hikers, walkers, and bikers.
The trail follows the Cowanshannock Creek on an abandoned Pennsylvania Railroad Company corridor. In the early part of the 20th century, the trail corridor was used to haul coal mined by the Kittanning Iron and Steel Manufacturing Company as well as brick made by the Cowanshannock Brick and Manufacturing Company and the Willard Brick Company. At the northern end of the trail, trail users can connect to the Armstrong Trails.
Leaving the Bernard Snyder Picnic Area, the trail navigates a beautifully landscaped area with views of the Allegheny River. 0.8 miles along, the trail comes to a steel and wooden bridge with a spring runoff from the hillside on the left side. Continue another 0.3 of a mile to see Buttermilk Falls on the right. The trail ends at a cul-de-sac on the banks of the creek.
Parking can be found along the trail at 282 State Rte 1033.
Mid March, we parked at Snyder Park on Johnston Road at McMillen Road and headed out the trail to Buttermilk Falls. The trail is packed crushed limestone. Very scenic walk (hike) as it follows Cowanshannock Creek. Trail is a little over a mile in length, at the end you will find Buttermilk Falls.
Walked the trail on May 15th. It looks like they did alot of work on drainage, more stones and fencing. Well taken care of and a beautiful view.
Closed for construction since March 8th no indication of when it will reopen. Really looking forward to hiking it since others said there are some pretty sights. To compensate the Armstrong Trail is across the road from the parking lot you can hike on the crushed gravel with the site of the river which runs beside it in the meantime.
Amazing trail! Easy to hike. Very scenic. The rapids in the creek are abundant. Very family friendly. Would highly recommend
This very old rail line peeled away from the Allegheny Valley main line from the north, and I would guess that the branch had a connection leg to the south. I measured the trail length at 1.1 miles from the parking lot to the stubbed east end. Only a few rotten tires convey the fact that this steep shelf was once a rail line. The roadbed is very eroded, and the trail climbs a continuous steep grade up from the Allegheny. The trail is indeed very scenic, and also very remote. It looks like a real primeval forest, actually kinda scary. I wouldn't be surprised to see a bear or a snake up there among all those large rocks and the rushing water. That little bridge halfway up is very tight, barely wide enough to walk your bicycle across, and there is no trace of railroad bridge piers across that ravine it crosses. It will be real neat to see this little trail extended several more miles into the valley some time in the future. -Rich Ballash, Latrobe PA 10/28/2014.
For it's short length, the views are spectacular! The funnest part was the wooden bridge 2" wider than the space between the 2 front wheels on my tadpole trike. The trail ends at a some real big rocks in the creek which make for a nice set of tiny falls.
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