Great Allegheny Passage

Great Allegheny Passage
Along the Great Allegheny Passage, near Milepost 100
Length	150 miles (240 km)
Location	Western Pennsylvania and Maryland
Trailheads	Cumberland, Maryland Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Use	Hiking, Cycling
Elevation Change	western: 1,066 feet (325 m); eastern 1,786 feet (544 m)
Highest point	2392' at Eastern Continental Divide just east of Deal, Pennsylvania;
Lowest point	east end: 606 feet (185 m) at Cumberland, Maryland; west end: 720 feet (220 m) at Point State Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Grade	2% maximum
Trail difficulty	easy
Hazards	Severe Weather
Surface	Stone dust
ROW	Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad Union Railroad Western Maryland Railroad

Frostburg trailhead, from top of access trail

The Great Allegheny Passage is a rail trail in Maryland and Pennsylvania. It is the central part of a several-hundred-mile long network of long-distance hiker-biker trails through the Allegheny region of the Appalachian Mountains, connecting Washington, D.C. to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and beyond.

The multi-use trail, suitable for biking and walking, occupies abandoned corridors of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad, Union Railroad and the Western Maryland Railroad. When completed, the Great Allegheny Passage will extend 150 miles (240 km) from Cumberland, Maryland to Point State Park in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with a 52-mile (84 km) branch (Montour Trail) to the Pittsburgh International Airport.

This trail also connects with the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal towpath trail, which runs for an additional 185 miles (298 km) between Cumberland, Maryland and Washington, DC - creating a continuous non-motorized corridor, 318 miles (512 km) long, from McKeesport, near Pittsburgh (ultimately to begin from Pittsburgh's Point State Park 339 miles (546 km)) to Washington, DC. The Great Allegheny Passage is a segment of the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, one of eight nationally designated scenic trails.

The first section of the Great Allegheny Passage was a 9-mile (14 km) section near Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania which opened in 1986.

Landmarks along the trail

As the trail nears completion, the route has become increasingly popular for "through-travelers" including hikers, backpackers and cyclists traversing portions of the route from destination to destination, or the entire trail from end to end. Ample facilities have been provided for such users, including campsites, touring companies, and park facilities. In Maryland this is due to the pre-existing facilities of the National Park Service for the C&O Canal towpath into Washington, D.C.; along the trail itself, facilities are maintained by a variety of local organizations under the Allegheny Trail Alliance (see below), along with the pre-existing facilities in Ohiopyle State Park, already a popular destination for whitewater river-rafting and sightseeing.

Ohiopyle Low Bridge, part of the Great Allegheny Passage. (The Ohiopyle High Bridge, 1/3 mile west along the trail, crosses the river farther downstream and is a popular site for watching whitewater rafters passing underneath.)

The Great Allegheny Passage is the key connecting segment of the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, creating an off-road sight-seeing and backpacking corridor hundreds of miles long. Notable landmarks along the trail include:

• Fallingwater, a national architectural landmark designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
• Carrie Furnace, part of the Steel Valley Heritage Trail, along the Monongahela River.
• Ohiopyle State Park, bisected by the Youghiogheny, the most popular whitewater destination on the east coast.
• Salisbury Viaduct, 1,908 ft (0.3 mi/0.6 km), up to 100 feet high across the Casselman River valley.
• Meyersdale, Pennsylvania Museum.
• Bollman Truss Bridge in Meyersdale, one of the two surviving cast-iron truss bridges in North America.
• the Eastern Continental Divide, the highest point of the trail, passes through a short tunnel embellished with paintings of the area's history and a map of the trail's elevation contours: "It's all downhill from here!"
• Big Savage Tunnel, 3,295 ft (0.6 mi/1 km), lighted, carries the trail through Big Savage Mountain two miles east of the Eastern Continental Divide; there's a popular scenic vista just east of the tunnel.
• Mason-Dixon Line: the border where the trail crosses between Pennsylvania and Maryland
• Borden Tunnel: 957 feet long, unlighted.
• Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, a working steam railroad operating next to the trail from Cumberland, Maryland to the college town of Frostburg, Maryland (and return).
• Brush Tunnel: 914 feet long, lighted; the trail and the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad share this tunnel and pass through it side-by-side.
• Bone Cave: (two or three miles west of Cumberland, Maryland: an archeological site containing bones of saber-tooth tigers and other extinct animals; it was discovered during construction of the railroad.
• Canal Place, the head of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Cumberland, Maryland where it meets the former Western Maryland Railway (WM) and rail-trail. In the 19th century WM's predecessor railroads delivered coal, flour and other products to a wharf for transfer to canal boats destined for Williamsport, Maryland and Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

Allegheny Mountains along the trail route

C&O Canal extension into D.C.

Main article: Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park

Additional landmarks along the C&O Canal portion, which continues past the GAP Trail into D.C. include:

• Paw Paw Tunnel, a 3,118 feet (0.6 mi/950 m) long canal tunnel, unlighted.
• Antietam National Battlefield, located 2 miles from Dam 4.
• Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, a National Historical Park and headquarters of the Appalachian Trail, which crosses over the Potomac gorge on a railroad bridge.
• Monocacy Aqueduct, an example of early American engineering.
• Great Falls of the Potomac River, the largest falls of any river on the eastern seaboard, and a destination for professional kayaking and rock-climbing.
• Mather Gorge and the Potomac palisades, a unique natural habitat of granite cliffs and boulders featuring the National Park Service's Billy Goat Trail.
• Georgetown, Washington, D.C., a historic town and neighborhood at the canal trailhead.
• The Potomac Heritage Trail continues south on a further bike trail past the Lincoln Memorial to Mount Vernon.

Trail development

The Allegheny Trail Alliance is a group of seven trail organizations who have joined together to bring this trail to completion. The affiliated trails and the lengths of their trails are:

Trail	Completed Mileage (km)	Mileage Underway (km)	Total Mileage (km)
Three Rivers Heritage Trail	25 (40.2)	12 (19.3)	37 (59.6)
Steel Valley Trail	6 (8.4)	10 (16)	12 (20.4)
Montour Trail	40 (64.4)	6 (9.7)	46 (74.0)
Youghiogheny River Trail, North	43 (68.8)	0	43 (68.8)
Youghiogheny River Trail, South	28 (44.8)	0	28 (44.8)
Allegheny Highlands Trail in Pennsylvania	41 (66.0)	0	41 (66.0)
Allegheny Highlands Trail in Maryland	21 (33.7)	0	21 (33.8)
Great Allegheny Trail total			200.5 (320.8)
At Cumberland the ATA system connects with the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Towpath
C&O Canal Towpath	184.5 (295.4)	0	184.5 (295.4)
Total including C & O Canal			385.0 (616.0)

Construction plans

The 9-mile (14 km) section between Woodcock Hollow and Cumberland opened on December 13, 2006. 130 miles (210 km) of continuous trail are now open from McKeesport, Pennsylvania to Cumberland, Maryland. Trail work remains near Pittsburgh and McKeesport.

Ground breaking for the conversion of the Hot Metal Bridge in Pittsburgh for pedestrian/bike use occurred on September 15, 2006. As part of the project, a new concrete deck and lighting were installed. A switchback ramp was built on the south side of the bridge to connect to the trails there and a new span was erected over Second Avenue to link the bridge to the Eliza Furnace Trail. The project officially opened on November 28, 2007.

Work also is continuing on sections of the Montour Trail, a 46-mile (74 km) trail that when completed will link Coraopolis and Clairton. More than 40 miles (64 km) of the trail are finished. The almost-continuous trail now stretches from Moon near Coraopolis through Imperial, McDonald, Cecil and Peters. A ground-breaking ceremony on that section was held Oct. 22, 2006.

The trail passes through the Big Savage Tunnel in Somerset County, Pennsylvania near the Maryland border. The reopening of the crucial 3/4 mile (1 km) tunnel near the Eastern Continental Divide (highest point on the trail) required several years of planning and restoration. The tunnel is closed from December 1 to April 1 each year with wooden doors to protect the tunnel lining from heavy winter snow and ice.

See also

• Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
• Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park
• Montour Trail
• Ohio River Trail
• Youghiogheny River Trail
• List of rail trails

External links

• Allegheny Trail Alliance - comprehensive GAP web site
• Three Rivers Heritage Trail web site
• Montour Trail web site
• Steel Valley Trail
• Youghiogheny River Trail
• Pennsylvania DNR Rail Trail web page
• Mountain Maryland Trails
• U.S. National Park Service, C&O Canal Towpath web page