Northern Pennsylvania’s Pine Creek Rail Trail offers the perfect outdoor destination for autumn (or any season, really)

The developing Industrial Heartland Trails Network is a collection of nearly three dozen pathways featuring scenic wilderness, dramatic railroad tunnels and trestles, welcoming trail towns and historical sites from the birthplace of America’s Industrial Revolution.

Rural Trails Survey Data

Pennsylvania passed a transportation funding bill in 2013, increasing transportation revenue by $2.3 billion per year.

One of the largest completed sections of that developing network is a pair of connected rail-trails—the Heritage Rail Trail County Park and the Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail—a 44-mile expanse.

With a length of 55 miles, there’s a lot to love on western Pennsylvania’s Montour Trail. Our top five attractions for this rail-trail located just outside of Pittsburgh are included below.

In terms of rail-trail mileage, Pennsylvania dominates, but in a crowded field, the Montour Trail—which forms a 55-mile arc around western Pittsburgh—is a standout with plenty of “wow” moments.

Three Rivers Heritage Trail 2014 User Survey and Economic Impact Analysis

The Switchback Gravity Railroad, built in 1827, was only the second railroad built in America. It ran nine miles, hauling coal from Summit Hill down to the town of Mauch Chunk and the Lehigh Canal in east central Pennsylvania.

This study of six connected trails make up the central leg of the developing 270-mile Erie to Pittsburgh Trail.