GAP trail a Mon Valley gem
Scott Beveridge
A view taken from inside a camping shelter in Fayette County.
A remote campground along the Great Allegheny Passage near Perryopolis in Fayette County.
Mike Jones of Washington travels along a restored industrial bridge over the Monongahela River in Allegheny County.
Scott Beveridge
The trail follows an old, rusting bridge over the Monongahela River in Allegheny County.
Scott Beveridge
Bicyclists pass the abandoned Banning Mine in Rostraver Township.
Scott Beveridge
The Youghiogheny River at Dawson, Fayette County.
Scott Beveridge
The underside of Layton Bridge in Fayette County.
By Scott Beveridge
Less than 10 miles east of the Monongahela River in Rostraver Township sits a gateway to one of the best hiking and biking trails in the region.
At the base of Cedar Creek Park is a picture-perfect boating ramp to the Youghiogheny River alongside easy access to the Great Allegheny Passage trail, which snakes for 150 miles from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Md.
The trail in Maryland meets up with the C & O Canal Towpath that provides access onto Washington, D.C.
Three miles to the north of Cedar Creek sits West Newton, with trail users enter a tunnel of green created by old trees before passing industrial relics from an abandoned coal mine. The same distance south reaches Smithton with a similar disappearance into nature and a popular destination for bird-watchers.
The trail further ahead from West Newton passes through old coal villages, industrial decay and under Kennywood Park before ending in Pittsburgh. The other direction passes abandoned coke ovens, wildflower cover, butterflies and fresh air.
The trail’s website boasts that the mostly-level attraction has everything anyone could need along the way, with campgrounds dotting the path.
“The Great Allegheny Passage traces America’s westward expansion through a chain of cyclist-friendly trail towns, each with easy access to trailheads, restaurants, lodging, camping and bike shops, its website states. “The Great Allegheny Passage is safe, scenic and spectacular.”
The Great Allegheny Passage was built on abandoned rails used by the Western Maryland Railway and the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad.
It was founded in June 1978 when the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy purchased 26.7 miles of the Western Maryland right-of-way in Fayette County for Ohiopyle State Park.
It was estimated by St. Vincent College in Latrobe two years ago that between 890,620 to nearly 1.2 million people used the trail that year.