Explore the best rated trails in Pittsburgh, PA, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Ghost Town Trail and Panhandle Trail . With more than 48 trails covering 4508 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
Enjoyed a short winter walk on the trail. Surface under all the snow is pavement. Mid January it's got about 6" of packed non smooth snow and ice mixture on it. Ok for walking, could be difficult on a bicycle, maybe could use a fat tire bike.
When other bike trails are soggy or mushy is go on this one. This is my go to bike trail. Only some of it is paved if you are not on the rode. It’s mostly asphalt and not completely flat.
Not only does the nice looking pump with all the tools at the parking not work, it let the air out of my bike tire. It was useable when I arrived, should not have trusted it. No ride today.
I rode this trail a week ago as part of a loop on the Indian Creek Valley Trail. The trail is easy to find and was relatively easy to ride on a gravel bike with 700 x 38 tires. There is a trail that splits off halfway but just stay straight and you'll be fine. There's really no issues with riding this unless you're trying to ride it on a skinny tire road bike. I enjoyed the trail.
I rode this trail on November 1st, a sunny but windy fall day. The leaves were off the trees mostly but were a beautiful carpet of color on the ground. I have ridden here before but never this late in the year and not for a few years. I started in the town of Indian Head as I always do. I first headed south and right away you do have to take a quick jog west on Indian Head Rd but the trail is easy to find. This section was in great shape and the tread was excellent. I rode south to the gate and seeing that people were continuing south on the unfinished section I rode on about .3 miles but there were some mud holes and the tires on my gravel bike weren't up to that task. Next time I'll bring the mountain bike and go further.
I went back to Indian Head and headed north. This was an extremely pleasant trail with what I can honestly say is the smoothest path (outside of pavement) I've ever ridden. It's actually smoother than some pavement. I flew along with only a few people on the trail until the town of Champion. Here you have to ride back Roaring Run Rd a short distance to regain the trail. From here on the trail, while still full width is only single track. For the most part though this single track is very smooth and quite rideable. At Jones Mills the trail ends in a short but steep climb up to Rt 31. As others have noted, there is no parking here.
I continued this ride by carefully crossing Rt 31 and riding down Rt 381 a short distance to the Blair Brothers Trail. This is a fairly easy 1.5 mile ride through the woods to a dirt road before turning around.
All-in-all, this is a great trail and likely to be much less crowded than the GAP. There is a diner in Indian Head (the Creekside Diner) if you need something to eat. I did not check it out though. Go and enjoy the trail.
Took us a month, but finished today hiking this trail. And just one day with rain. Still stunned by the beauty of this part od Pennsylvania.
Great parking, smooth packed crushed limestone. Nice views of the river and golf course. Still some fall color but fading and falling fast. Only reason for 4 stars is the only restroom was out of service.
Foxburg to Parker section of the trail, 2.5 miles in length, paved, good condition. Follows the Allegheny River. We went to enjoy the Fall Foliage. Beautiful! Made an afternoon out of it: Bike ride, visited the winery and ate at the pizza shop. There is a hotel in Foxburg and noticed several cars parked in front of it with bike racks.
My husband and I ride this trail about 3-4x/month starting in Freeport. We always stop at the Derailleur Cafe which has great food—the most delicious grilled cheese (add the various relishes—you won’t be sorry!), roasted veggies over rice (add chicken or beans for a healthy lunch), fresh fruit smoothies and Leona’s Ice Cream sandwiches. It’s a darling cafe with good history (ask Dee about it—she loves to talk:-)). It’s opened daily in the summer, but due to lack of traffic, Fall has only weekend hours…11-3.
The trail itself is a nice workout—about 10 miles up a very gradual incline after the first 5 miles of flat, then down another 5 miles to Butler (we always turn around before town). We turn around to get back to Freeport all within about 3.5 hours. (If my husband is alone, he cranks it out in about 2.5). The views are along Buffalo Creek, Jones’ turkey farm (hold your nose during the heat of summer), and a cow pasture.
It’s a great, well maintained trail that’s well shaded in the summer months.
The trail is now far less rocky than it was for years, although rougher gravel patches still creep.
When heading to Boston from Pittsburgh on the GAP, you can use this "loop" option to avoid climbing a short, relatively steep area near the end of River Ridge Road, although you will be pretty close to Boston at that point, anyway. Taking the loop will get you to the Boston Bridge in a short time while riding through some industrial areas and neighborhoods. You will encounter very little vehicle traffic, if any at all. Most of the paved areas have been recently re-paved (2024) which makes the ride smooth for the most part. I use the loop just for a change of pace at times.
Time-wise, it makes no difference.
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