Great American Rail-Trail In Pennsylvania
Great Allegheny Passage (gaptrail.org) in Pennsylvania | Photo courtesy RTC
The Great American Rail-Trail in Pennsylvania is hosted by trails that showcase the state’s history and heritage, from its days before the country formally came into being to its heyday as an industrial powerhouse. Beginning at the Maryland–Pennsylvania border on the 150-mile Great Allegheny Passage (gaptrail.org), the route travels to Pittsburgh and through downtown on the Three Rivers Heritage Trail.
Plans to complete the Great American through Pittsburgh also align with the vision of the Industrial Heartland Trails Coalition—one of RTC’s TrailNation™ projects—to connect Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and New York via a developing 1,500-mile trail network.
Pennsylvania stories along the Great American Rail-Trail
The “Great American” Route Through Pennsylvania
The route through Pennsylvania connects several existing trails and includes a gap of fewer than 10 miles between Pittsburgh and Coraopolis. By connecting the trail through Pittsburgh, the Great American Rail-Trail also connects to the Industrial Heartland Trails Coalition (IHTC), a 1,500- mile network of trails that is part of RTC’s TrailNation™ portfolio. The IHTC network will stretch across 51 counties in four states—Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and New York—from the shores of Lake Erie to the confluence of the three rivers in Pittsburgh and on to the Ohio River and Appalachian foothills.
172.5
Total Miles162.7
Existing Miles9.8
Gap Miles94.3%
Complete
Great American Rail-Trail Route Assessment (2026)
The Great American Rail-Trail Route Assessment 2026 defined the preferred route of the Great American Rail- Trail as more than 3,700 miles—with 2,086 miles of existing trails and 1,674 miles of trail gaps.
Economic Potential of the Great American Rail-Trail Report (2022)
Investments could generate more than $229.4 million in visitor spending, $104 million in labor income, and $22.8 million in new tax revenue.
Trails Along the Route
Great Allegheny Passage (gaptrail.org)
Just after crossing into Pennsylvania from Maryland, the GAP reaches the Eastern Continental Divide at 2,392 feet above sea level. The GAP features several great engineering feats, including the newly restored 849-foot-long Pinkerton Tunnel; the 101-foot-high Salisbury Viaduct, which spans more than 1,900 feet; and the 3,294-foot-long Big Savage Tunnel, and passes through the trail towns of Meyersdale, Rockwood, Confluence, Ohiopyle, Connellsville, West Newton and Boston. View trail map on TrailLink.
Three Rivers Heritage Trail
Since its inception in 1991, Friends of the Riverfront has been a pioneering organization working to protect and restore the Pittsburgh region’s rivers and riverfronts after decades of legacy pollution. The Three Rivers Heritage Trail now encompasses 25 miles of urban riverfront trails along both banks of the mighty Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers.
The Three Rivers Heritage Trail connects to the GAP at the Hot Metal Bridge and continues northwest through Riverfront Park along the Monongahela River. The trail then travels through Station Square, a shopping and entertainment complex occupying buildings once used by the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad. From where the GAP ends at Point State Park, the Three Rivers Heritage Trail continues across the Fort Pitt Bridge to the North Shore Trail and continues down the Chateau Trail.
Montour Trail
The Montour Trail follows a portion of the old Montour Railroad, which was built between 1877 and 1914 to link the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad with the region’s many coal mines. Forming a semicircle around Pittsburgh, the Montour Railroad also connected to other railroads, including the Pennsylvania Railroad, Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and Union Railroad. Both the trail and railroad are named for the creek that runs alongside them. Highlights of the trail include the 500-foot Enlow Tunnel in Findlay Township and the 900-foot-plus McDonald Trestle. In the fall of 2020, the Montour Trail was extended by 0.8 mile into Coraopolis. View trail map on TrailLink.
Panhandle Trail
A Conrail line known as the Panhandle Railroad once connected Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Cincinnati, Ohio; Chicago, Illinois; and St. Louis, Missouri. The portion of the rail corridor between Carnegie, Pennsylvania, and Weirton, West Virginia, is now a 29.2-mile multiuse trail known as the Panhandle Trail, which connects with the Montour Trail in McDonald, Pennsylvania. The Panhandle Trail features many small bridge crossings as it cuts through the rolling and occasionally rocky hillside. View trail map on TrailLink.
Listen To Oral History:
Great American Rail-Trail Preferred Route
