Rust to Rapids: Bicycling the Great Allegheny Passage, Maryland

Ever since the final mile was completed in 2013 through Pittsburgh’s steel valley, the GAP has been collecting accolades faster than a ten-speed in a tailwind.

The New York Times named the Great Allegheny Passage as one of the top eight bike trails in the United States, citing "ample opportunities to rest, eat, swim and sleep" along its 150-mile route from Pittsburgh, through Pennsylvania's Laurel Highlands and Maryland's mountains, to Cumberland. 

The Great Allegheny Passage was named one of the top three destinations for biking in the 2022 Best of The Blue Ridge Readers’ Choice Awards conducted by Blue Ridge Outdoors. Adventurers throughout the mid-Atlantic and southeast states named the region’s top trails, towns, events, craft beverages, and outfitters, and selected the GAP as a winner for its beautiful views and green summer canopies. From Cumberland to Downtown Pittsburgh, the GAP traverses through some of the most spectacular scenery in Appalachia.

Here is what one participant in the June 2023 trip said:

The Allegheny Gap Rails to Trails is so worth doing. It is a beautifully maintained and constructed trail. The trail exists in its own world outside of Walmarts and Starbucks and roads of any kind. It utilizes old railway infrastructure for private bike bridges and viaducts. Only the sounds of the massive freight trains places one in a site so historically well-travelled yet so currently forgotten. The trip utilizes quaint, local businesses to keep up this other world pretense. We could travel at our own pace and thereby choose to keep company with the natural world or our own thoughts. 

According to one analysis, bicyclists, walkers, runners, and explorers made an estimated 1.4 million visits to the Great Allegheny Passage in 2021. But do not expect a crowd as cycling the GAP is an inspiring ride and you can go for miles without seeing other two-wheelers.

The GAP as per the PBS special produced by WQED Pittsburgh is known as the most scenic bike trail anywhere and you are never far from the next gem. So many discoveries await. The whole trip is an adventure and an unforgettable ride:

https://www.pbs.org/video/the-great-ride-landmarks-along-the-trail-6olhtl/

Our mornings and afternoons will consist of long rides through territory that George Washington explored, coal and coke barons exploited and now cyclists enjoy. Our evenings will be leisurely in quaint trail towns.

Riding distances will range from 30 (Pittsburgh city tour) to 60 miles. Total distance for the week is about 200 miles.

Is the GAP “150 miles of spectacular”? Sign up and see.

Day 1:  We will meet at 5 p.m. at our B&B which is near the GAP rail trail and a slag-drop from the skeletons of former steel mills. There will be a thorough orientation session and afterwards dinner at a local restaurant. All dinners during the trip are at your expense. Vehicles may be parked on the street or at a public garage two blocks away (at your expense).

Day 2:  Miles = about 30. Rivers: Ohio, Monongahela and Allegheny. Our first day will emphasize the art and architecture of the Steel City.  Cycling begins on day two with a thorough tour with about 53 stops. We will try to see as many city institutions as we can: Point State Park (1974), Smithfield Street Bridge (built 1883), Gus and YiaYia’s Ice Ball Stand (est. 1938), the Andy Warhol Museum, the Jail Trail, the Mr. Rogers Memorial, the Skinny Building (built 1926), The Pretzel Shop, Fort Pitt Blockhouse (built 1764). Riders will be set loose in the Strip District lunch culminating in dessert at a traditional ice cream parlor. The Strip District is an eclectic mix of restaurants, produce stands, ethnic grocers, meat and fish markets and sidewalk vendors. After a complete day you will have a perspective and appreciation of the city which was once called “hell with the lid off.”

Day 3: Miles = 34. Rivers: Monongahela, Youghiogheny. Before we leave Pittsburgh, we will travel 400 feet up to Duquesne Heights at a 30-degree grade. No need to shift to the lowest gear as we will park our bikes at the base of the Duquesne Incline (opened 1877) and take a relaxed ride to the top.

The remaining ride is leisurely as we leave the city and officially start the GAP, pass the site of the 1892 Homestead steel strike, pass working steel mills, the city of McKeesport (aka Tube city), and into a rural stretch of the trail including Dead Man’s Hollow and the Dravo Cemetery. We may have time for a chill stop at a local swimming pool right next to the trail in Buena Vista. We then arrive in West Newton for our B&B accommodation.

Elevation gain = 43’

Day 4: Miles = 55. Rivers: Youghiogheny, Casselman, Bear Run. We pick up the pace as we must meet our afternoon tour at Fallingwater. We will pass through old coal mining patch towns with ruins still visible. You may recall that the coal miners owed their soul to the company store. We will stop at the beehive coke ovens before the city of Connellsville which was once the coke capital of the world. Then we enter Ohiopyle State Park.  "Ohiopyle" is derived from the Lenape phrase ahi opihəle which means “it turns very white,” referring to the frothy waterfalls. We will pedal beside the river for the next 18 miles. In 1753, George Washington tried to use the Youghiogheny River as a means to reach the French Fort Duquesne at the fork of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers. He was forced to abandon the river passage by the waterfalls in the Ohiopyle area.

From the town of Ohiopyle we will take a shuttle to Fallingwater. Afterwards, we will eat dinner in town and then pedal our way 13 miles to our next B&B. Laundry services are available here. 

Elevation gain = 571’

Fallingwater

"If you look at the design, you can hear the waterfall.”

                                                      Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright’s triumph is a “rhythmic interplay of interior and exterior space.” It integrates trees, rocks, water and habitat where outside and inside boundaries fade in an idyllic setting.  

From the web site:

Echoing a natural pattern established by its rock ledges, Wright placed the house over the falls in a series of cantilevered concrete trays anchored to a central stone chimney mass quarried from the same local Pottsville sandstone as the rock ledges. Although the house rises more than 30 feet above the falls, strong horizontal lines and low ceilings help maintain the safe, sheltering effect that Wright sought to achieve.

The Kaufmann Family in the 1930s commissioned Wright to design a vacation home for them far away from the smoke and dust of the Pittsburgh steel mills. They thought their new country house would have a wonderful view of the falls. Much to their surprise Wright designed the house right on top of the falls of Bear Run. 

National Geographic Traveler magazine has named Fallingwater one of its “50 Places of a Lifetime,” while Smithsonian Magazine has included it in its list of “28 Places You Should See in Your Lifetime.”

Day 5:  Flex Day. Miles = 0 to 26. Rivers: Youghiogheny, Casselman, Laurel Hill Creek (Turkeyfoot). Today you could complete a pedal/paddle workout. We will cycle back to Ohiopyle (13 miles) and meet up with our outfitter mid-morning for our Class 3 rafting experience (included in the trip price). Afterwards, we can tour the town and then we return to the same B&B.

Or you could pedal to Ohiopyle and take-in the visitor center and spend the afternoon watching waterfalls. Cycling over any falls is prohibited. 

Or, you could chill out at the B&B and gorge ourselves on the best brownies east of the Mississippi (thank you Frances).

Or, you we could take a relaxing 4-mile ride to the Yough River Dam and trail town of Confluence.

Day 6:  Miles = 60. Rivers: Casselman, Flaugherty Creek, Wills Creek, Potomac. This is our longest day. We will pass through more trail towns including Meyersdale, the Maple Syrup Capital of Pennsylvania. The ride today will feature two viaducts and three tunnels. We will reach the highest point on the GAP and the Eastern Continental Divide and then begin our descent to Cumberland, Maryland to our B&B. We can stop for photos at the Mason-Dixon Line and Eastern Continental Divide.  

Elevation gain to Eastern Continental Divide = 1052’

Decline to Cumberland = 1772’

Day 7: No riding today as we board our shuttle back to Pittsburgh. Arrival in the steel city should be by 1 p.m.

Footnotes

1. We will travel from Allegheny County to Allegany County.

2. Will we really pass Lover’s Leap?

3. Should we stop at Bone Cave?

Getting There

The trip will begin and end in the South Side of Pittsburgh. We will cycle from Pittsburgh to Cumberland and return via a shuttle back to Pittsburgh. 

However, for those coming from the east, there is an option to park in Cumberland or Washington D.C. and take Amtrak to Pittsburgh. Amtrak offers bicycle service on its Capitol Limited line, which runs between Chicago and Washington, D.C., with stops along the GAP in downtown Pittsburgh and along the C&O Canal Towpath in Cumberland. For an extra $20 on top of your regular fare, you can secure your bicycle in a retrofitted baggage car and get on or off at any station. Each train has room for eight bicycles (no tandems or tricycles). You must purchase and reserve your ticket and one of eight bicycle slots ahead of time.

Please do not make non-refundable travel arrangements until notified to do so by the trip leader.

Accommodations and Food

We will be staying at B&Bs. Note that there are shared bathrooms in the B&Bs. Private rooms are not available. 

Trip price is based on double occupancy. There is no single supplement. Depending on the gender mix of the group and the lodging, there may be three or four people per room. The trip leader will attempt to pair people up in rooms if requested, but this depends on the gender and number of the participants and cannot be guaranteed. Couples may have to be split. 

The following items are at your expense: parking at the trailhead, all dinners and one lunch, bicycle rental, snacks.

The following are included in your trip price: all accommodations, all breakfasts, four lunches, rafting fee, admission to Fallingwater and the Warhol Museum, fare for the Incline.

Restaurants have variable hours and we may have to use alternate eateries than those planned. In the trail towns there are few culinary choices.

Trip Difficulty

The trip is of moderate difficulty. Participants should be in good shape and able to pedal the distance each day at a minimum speed of 10 mph to meet the group lunch spots and scheduled tours. Distances on the bike will range from approximately 30 to 60 miles a day. We will ride in rain, heat and shine. The weather in western Pennsylvania during our tour time typically is between 60s and low 90s.

Although the rail trail is level, riders should have completed 60 miles or longer shortly prior to the trip as such endurance is required.

While our luggage will be transported between lodgings, there is no provision to transport bicycles or riders. Luggage is restricted to one carry-on sized item weighing less than 40 pounds.

Note that there is no SAG (support and gear) vehicle. Riders who cannot complete the mileage will have to make private arrangements and pay the cost to be transported to the next B&B.

We will be riding in city traffic the first day so participants should have such experience.

As per the nature of bicycle tours, there are fast riders and there are slow riders. There will be no sweep. We will stay together as a group the first two days. Afterwards, riders are free to set their pace stopping for group lunches and tours. You will be riding solo through long stretches of the rail trail. Cue sheets will be provided.  The GAP has large granite markers every mile. 

Traveling in a group invariably involves compromise to accommodate the diverse interests, travel goals, personalities, and physical abilities of all participants. Tour leaders may be required to improvise and exercise good faith, use discretion, and/or make decisions based upon weather conditions, trail/route conditions, group fitness level and group consensus. These decisions may not always please each individual, but they are intended to satisfy the desires of the group and comply with the intended goals, safety and spirit of the tour.

Flexibility and patience are keys. 

By joining a group there are inherent compromises.  If you feel you do not have such flexibility then solo travel may be the appropriate alternative.

Elevation (feet above sea level)

*Overnight stay.

Equipment and Clothing

The trip is appropriate for road bikes, touring bikes, hybrids, tandems, trikes, recumbents, gravel bikes or whatever machine you can ride for 60 miles and be comfortable on for the entire day. Mountain bikes and fat bikes are probably too heavy and unnecessary. Only certain types of e-bikes are permitted. Rentals are available in Pittsburgh: bring your pedals and seat. The GAP riding surface is crushed limestone with some small sections paved asphalt. Trippers must carry the following equipment:

• Helmet

• Bike lock

• Extra tubes, tire levers (and the ability to change flat tires and perform minor maintenance tasks and fixes)

• Pump

• Basic tool kit

• Flat repair kit

• Spare spokes for your wheels

• Water bottles/hydration pack

• Headlamp or flashlight for the tunnels

• Extra clothing & rain gear – it will rain. 

• Cycling gloves

• Walking shoes

• Personal first aid kit

• Sunblock/sunglasses

• Panniers or similar containers for your on-cycle gear

You will not have access to your luggage between B&B stops.   

A detailed equipment list will be distributed prior to the departure date. The outfitter will provide all the gear needed for the rafting trip. 

Although there are bike shops located in Pittsburgh, McKeesport, West Newton, Connellsville, Ohiopyle, Confluence and Cumberland, we cannot rely on them for immediate support. Your bike must be in excellent condition, road worthy, recently serviced and well-maintained. Many parts of the GAP are remote and inaccessible for support vehicles and no cell service. Bathrooms are readily available being either portable potties or at our lunch stops.

Mindful that many parts of the GAP are unreachable, you should be able to make minor repairs like changing a flat tire. On the 2023 trip we had three flats and one broken spoke.

E-Bikes

No vehicles powered by internal combustion are permitted on the GAP, except those authorized for maintenance and emergency purposes. Other power-driven mobility devices, not specifically designed for disabilities, may be used in Pennsylvania, provided:

• Motors on electric vehicles are 750 watts or less.

• Devices weigh less than 100 lbs.

• Devices are no more than 36″ wide.

• Devices have fully operating pedals.

 The speed limit on the GAP is 15 mph.

References

• Trail Guide: Official Guide to Traveling the C&O Canal Towpath and the Great Allegheny Passage GAP Conservancy (a copy of this guide will be given to each party on the trip.)

• The Great Allegheny Passage Companion Bill Metzger
• Ohiopyle State Park http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/findapark/ohiopyle/index.htm
• Fallingwater http://www.fallingwater.org/
• Local travel http://www.laurelhighlands.org/index.asp
• GAP Official website Great Allegheny Passage (gaptrail.org)
• WQED Public TV GAP Video The Great Ride - YouTube
• Amtrak Service Amtrak’s Capitol Limited - Great Allegheny Passage (gaptrail.org)
• Movie Fences.  Based on the play by Pittsburgher August Wilson.

Conservation

Years ago, our companion rivers were open sewers. The discharge from steel mills raised the water temperature over 40 degrees and made the rivers sludge flows. The air was not much better. Businessmen in Pittsburgh had to changes their shirts halfway through the day because they worked in the smokey city. 

Clean air and water acts were environmental victories that changed western Pennsylvania. Many of these initiatives were due to Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring. Carson was born in Springdale a town upriver from Pittsburgh and attended the Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham University) in Pittsburgh. 

Despite this progress, there still are acid mine discharges into our rivers, air quality action days, sewer overflows during heavy rains and other impacts. The more recent concern is fracking. 

We will examine various environmental issues as we pedal our way through the GAP and witness harmful impacts to our companion rivers.