close

Panhandle Trail announced as part of ‘gateway’ west

By Harry Funk staff Writer hfunk@thealmanac.Net 5 min read
1 / 2

Harry Funk/The Almanac

The Panhandle Trail passes through the replica Wilson Mill Covered Bridge in McDonald Borough.

2 / 2

Harry Funk/The Almanac

The Panhandle Trail crosses Noblestown Road near the village of Primrose in Mt. Pleasant Township.

When rails-to-trails conversations starting taking place around Western Pennsylvania in the 1980s, one talking point was the possibility of a series of recreational paths one day linking the region to Washington.

D.C., that is. And as implausible as the idea might have seemed 30 years ago, it long since has become a reality.

Harry Funk/ The Almanac

Harry Funk/ The Almanac

The Panhandle Trail near its Station Street crossing in South Fayette Township

Now, the focus is connecting with another Washington: the state, home of Starbucks, Microsoft and Jimi Hendrix.

The D.C.-based nonprofit Rails-to-Trails Conservancy has announced its vision for the Great American Rail-Trail, extending 4,000 west from the nation’s capital and incorporating a dozen “gateway trails” along the way.

Among them is the Panhandle Trail, which stretches for 29 miles between Collier Township in Allegheny County and Colliers, W.Va., passing through northwestern Washington County along the way.

“We’ve long known the potential of a coast-to-coast rail-trail, but before we committed to bringing this vision to life, we wanted to be certain it was viable,” Keith Laughlin, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy president, said in a press release. “With open trails comprising more than 50 percent of the potential route combined with strong local and state enthusiasm, we are now confident that the Great American Rail-Trail can be completed.”

The Panhandle Trail is named after the Panhandle Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which was abandoned in 1992. The first mile of trail opened in October 2000, and the entirety was complete as of August 2008, according to the Collier Friends of the Panhandle Trail.

Harry Funk/The Almanac

Harry Funk/The Almanac

The Panhandle Trail off Noblestown Road near McDonald.

A stretch of about 2 miles is in South Fayette Township, where the Scotch Hill Road crossing, off Noblestown Road and Mill Street, has a parking lot, water fountain and bench. The trail’s Sturgeon station includes parking, permanent restrooms, a bulletin board and a picnic shelter.

McDonald Borough is home to a distinctive Panhandle Trail feature: a replica of the Wilson Mill Covered Bridge, which originally spanned Cross Creek in Independence Township.

“The original 35-foot-long bridge, built in 1889, was moved to Cross Creek County Park in 1978 as part of an ’eminent domain’ flood control project which created Cross Creek Lake,” according to an informational marker. “Because the bridge was vandalized and damaged by fire in 2002, it was dismantled and removed to the county’s Mingo Creek Park for storage and possible future restoration.”

County officials, though, decided to construct the replica, which was dedicated on July 5, 2011.

The full route for the Great American Rail-Trail will be released in the spring, according to the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.

“The investment of time and resources it will take to complete this trail will be returned in dividends as it takes its place among the country’s national treasures,” Laughlin predicted.

For more information, visit www.railstotrails.org/great-american-rail-trail.

Source: Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

Great American Rail-Trail ‘gateway’ trails

  • Capital Crescent Trail, Washington, D.C,. and Maryland: 11 miles; begins in Georgetown as the eastern terminus of the Great American Rail-Trail.
  • Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park, Washington, D.C., and Maryland: 185 miles to Cumberland, Md.; features canal locks, lock houses and aqueducts.
  • Panhandle Trail, Pennsylvania and West Virginia: 29 miles; Collier Township, Allegheny County, to Colliers, Brooke County.
  • Ohio to Erie Trail, Ohio: 270 miles; connects two major waterways, the Ohio River in Cincinnati and Lake Erie in Cleveland.
  • Cardinal Greenway, Indiana: 61 miles; longest rail-trail in the state
  • Hennepin Canal Parkway, Illinois: 100 miles; parallels the early 20th-century canal and runs west from the Illinois River to the Rock River.
  • Cedar Valley Nature Trail, Iowa: 68 miles; follows the Cedar River and connects Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Cedar Rapids
  • Cowboy Recreation and Nature Trail, Nebraska: 219 miles
  • Casper Rail Trail, Wyoming: 6 miles
  • Headwaters Trail System, Montana: 12 miles; connects to Missouri Headwaters State Park, where three rivers – Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin – meet to form the Missouri River.
  • Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, Idaho: 72 miles; runs through Idaho’s northern panhandle
  • Palouse To Cascades State Park Trail, Washington: 200 miles; marks the western terminus of the Great American Rail-Trail.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $/week.

Subscribe Today