Yough River Bike Trail
Welcome to our bicycling page! Since the spring of 1999 we have been enjoying
one of southwestern Pennsylvania's most beautiful recreational areas,
the Yough River Trail. It is a 70 mile crushed limestone trail for walking,
biking and horse-back riding which follows the Youghiogheny River.
There are several access points where we
park the car, and by riding anywhere from 5 to 25 miles at a time we have
now ridden the entire trail from McKeesport to Confluence. We have seen
all types of wildlife. Groundhogs abound as do bunnies, chipmunks,
squirrels and butterflies. We have seen deer, hawks, great blue herron and
yes, an occasional snake or two.
The trail is seeded with wildflowers and
in the spring and early summer much of it smells of honeysuckle, lilacs and
every other flower you can think of. Although it is well used, it really
isn't crowded and the people there are so friendly and polite. It's
like going back to the old days when folks greeted each other with a smile.
If you ever have a chance to try it, don't miss it. There are bike rental
shops all along the trail. Rentals are very reasonable and you can bring
a picnic lunch to enjoy along the river or in one of the parks along the way.
The trail will eventually connect all the way from Pittsburgh to
Washington D.C.
This is one of the first photos we took along the trail. It's a spot
around mile-post 20. We just loved the view!
This is taken at the same spot looking away from the river.
This was taken at Budd Town looking towards West Newton.
This is a shot of the Yough River taken at Cedar Creek Park.
In this picture I have just crossed the bridge over Cedar Creek Gorge.
The bridge is about 30' above the stream and is about 50' long.
The Bikes
This is Betsy's bike, a Trek 800. It is a perfect fit for her size and she
is completely satisfied with it. It has performed flawlessly since she
purchased it in April of 1999.
This is Roy's bike,a Trek 820. It was purchased on March 3, 2000.
It's only got around 200 miles on it but so far I think it is one fantastic bike! It
has 24 speeds and with it's aluminum frame it feels like there's hardly any
weight to it at all.....and wow, does it fly!
This is a Schwinn 10 speed road bike I picked up at a thrift shop for $10.00.
It wasn't much to look at at the time, but all the right parts were there.
As you can see I've re-built it, sort of as an hybrid. It is now finished
and really has turned out as I hoped it would. I find that most people like
the "Captain America" paint scheme I applied and it is known around here
as "The Flagship".
We always see the most interesting things on our rides. One Saturday we were
riding from Ohiopyle to Connellsville. It is a very
remote 17 mile stretch of the trail. Hearing a "thwomp thwomp thowmp" noise
we turned around and wacthed a Huey Cobra helicopter fly past us, right
down the middle of the river at an altitude of about 50', almost even with the
trail at that point. It was no more than 50 yards away when it passed us
and we were practically eye to eye with the pilot! Naturally, my camera was
in my bike bag and I couldn't get to it in time.
The following pictures were taken on our ride through Ohiopyle State Park to
Connellsville. Some of the scenery just takes your breath away. Believe me
when I say these pictures don't do justice to the landscape. It is truly
beautiful!
This was taken from the bridge at the trail head at Ohiopyle State Park.
The bridge is 130' above the Yough River rapids.
If you look real close you might be able to pick out the folks in kayaks about to
shoot the rapids.
(Hint - There is a blue one, a red one & a yellow one)
So far we have ridden over 1000 miles together !
We will be adding more pictures to this page from time to time. If you are
interested in giving trail-riding a try or you have any questions or
comments for us please contact us. Our E-mail address is back on our
home page.
Happy Trails!
