Have Bike, Will Gravel 002

Have Bike, Will Gravel
Nov 6 · 5 min read

Gravel (?) Biking Southwestern Pennsylvania’s Panhandle Trail


Hey there! In this post we’re talking about biking the Panhandle Trail. It’s a former division of the Pennsylvania Railroad which ran from Pittsburgh PA through the north-most part of West Virginia, or the “panhandle” which literally gives the trail it’s name.

Railroad traffic for this region ceased operations between Burgettstown PA and Weirton WV in 1991. Railroad traffic between Burgettstown PA and Collier Township ended a few years later in 1995. The route lay dormant for a number of years until government funding was received from the Rails-To-Trails initiative and a dedicated group of volunteers were on hand and ready to get the first section of the trail open in October of 2000. These folks have been off to the races ever since.

Nice infrastructure on the trail and lots of info kiosks.

I started this ride at Walkers Mill in Collier Township, right outside Pittsburgh PA which is in Allegheny Country. The trail begins with crushed limestone, the same caliber you’d find on The Montour Trail or The Great Allegheny Passage (blogs on those trails elsewhere!)

The old rock quarry near Walkers Mill PA.

Less than a mile out we encounter an old rock quarry with a fire pit and picnic shelter nearby. Many community activities take place here throughout the year but there’s an annual event to raise money for this section of the trail.

We get our cozy and smooth crushed limestone for about 7 1/2 miles. It’s a nice graded path but there are several small sections with minor rough patches of asphalt peaking through. Ride faster, stand as you peddle and you’ll be fine.

Shortly, we arrive at Oakdale PA with a few restaurant options and a trail side brewery. I’d recommend hitting THAT on the way back! The crushed limestone ends when you get to the border of Washington Country.

The trail is paved all the way through Washington Country.

It gets smooth here. Washington County isn’t messing around with this. They are on board with being part of The Great American Rail Trail. This is a 4000 mile planned bike trail from coast to coast.

In anticipation of joining this massive project the trail was covered with asphalt for 16 miles all the way to the border with West Virginia. Through this region you may experience at most a 1% grade so it’s easy to build up some speed, especially with an adventure or road bike. Just beware, trail regulations tell you to keep it to 15 mph…

The McDonald Trestle carries the Montour Trail overhead.

Coming through McDonald PA you can stop for tourism information at the Trail Station and History Center. It’s part of the great infrastructure throughout the trail and has maps, brochures and exhibits.

Continuing on, the Panhandle passes under the 60+ mile long Montour Trail which uses an old viaduct and trestle bridge. If you want to “explore the Montour” then just past the bridge is a trail connector that will take you up onto the Montour Trail proper.

Be careful in this area as construction is currently under way of the Southern Beltway which will connect Rt 22 to I-79 southwest of Pittsburgh PA. Completion is expected in 2022.

The former station at Burgettstown PA.

After McDonald the trail passes through Midway PA and then on to Burgettstown. An old train station here has been repurposed as an organics market and café. You get several other dining options here but this is last outpost all the way to West Virginia.

From here the trail dives into the wild with not really any amenities for about 7 miles. The scenery is nice but not spectacular…with the exception of fall.

Remnants of the old Pennsylvania Railroad at the state line.

You’ll know when you get to the West Virginia border as the pavement abruptly stops and goes right to gravel. This is not the pleasant crushed limestone we started with but a heavier compacted stone aggregate. You can still get some speed on this and the grading and leveling towards Weirton WV is good with no ruts or damaged sections.

It’s only about 3.8 miles to the trail end near Weirton but a decent ride as it parallels the Harmon Creek. There is a trail head at the end but you can go about another mile until you hit a gate. The rest of this line leads into a rail yard that served the former Weirton Steel Corporation.

If you want to get into Weirton from here you’ll have to leave the trail and use Cove Road into town.

The long hill between Bulger and Midway.

My return journey saw a lot faster pace especially when I got back into Pennsylvania and hit the pavement. I enjoyed the long arching hill between Bulger and Midway and really picked up some speed on the decent. Remember that 15 mph limit? Yeah, me neither.

Rails-To-Trails programs usually feature some type of finely crushed stone and part of me feels they should have left this trail unpaved. There’s a certain charm to riding on gravel where trains used to run on ballast-embedded rails.

On the other hand, with the idea of The Great American Rail Trail being accessible to as many people as possible, it stands to reason why the paving was done. I don’t see that happening for all the sections that will make up the project nor would I be supportive of that. Sometimes you gotta gravel people!

For more information on The Panhandle Trail you can visit here: http://panhandletrail.org/

You can also find information here: https://www.mcdonaldtrailstation.com/panhandle-trail.php

Information about the West Virginia section can be found here: https://www.cityofweirton.com/363/Northern-Panhandle-Rail-Trail

Thanks for reading, travel safe and peddle kindly!

Have Bike, Will Gravel

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This is a light-hearted blog about gravel biking Rails-To-Trails in Southwestern Pennsylvania and the tri-state region.

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