Montour Trail – A multi-use rail-trail in Allegheny and Washington Counties, Pennsylvania

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Trail Alerts

Register Now: Tour the Montour

The 20th annual Tour the Montour is scheduled for September 24, 2022. As in past years, The bike ride offers rest stops, on-trail support, hot lunch, basket chance items and super raffle prizes. Online event registration is now live.

New for this year: Parking/start/finish is at ~MM 4.8 in the former Pit Stop and At Home parking lots in Robinson Township. Learn more about the event here.

Volunteers will be trailside this summer selling raffle tickets for bike clothing, hybrid and electric bikes, bike rack and a gift card.

Panhandle Connector Improvements Survey

In 2021, the Montour Trail Council worked to improve the Panhandle Connector (which links the Montour and Panhandle trails). We’d like to know what you think about the completed project.

Please take a few moments to fill out this very short survey. It will help us assess future MTC projects.

The Montour Trail stretches 60+ miles around Pittsburgh — the longest suburban rail-trail in the U.S. The railbed’s bridges and tunnels played an important role in the region’s coal-mining history.

Walk. Run. Bike. Camp.

If you live near Pittsburgh, one of the the nation’s outstanding rail-trails is right in your back yard!

The Montour Trail is a multi-use, non-motorized recreational pathway around Pittsburgh, the country’s longest suburban rail-trail. The main line extends ~47 miles; branch routes increase length to 60+ miles. The relatively flat half-loop stretches from Coraopolis (along the Ohio River) to Clairton (on the Monongahela River). A northwest branch connects directly to Pittsburgh International Airport.

The Montour Trail Council refurbished original railroad bridges when possible; in other cases, engineers designed replacement structures. Image: Johnny Airesman

Scenic beauty

The Westland Branch runs parallel to an active railroad line. Montour Railroad trains rolled over 80+ bridges in its heyday. Image: Troy Bogdan

Restored bridges

The National Tunnel near Cecil is the Montour Trail’s longest at more than 600 feet. Like the other two lengthy tunnels on the Trail, It was originally built by the railroad to avoid steep grades.

Historic tunnels

The Montour Trail is a four-season recreational resource, which cross-country skiers take advantage of whenever there is enough snow on the Trail. Each season brings new reasons to be on the Trail. Image: Dave Oyler

4-season access

The Trail is easy to get to by car, as there are access areas and trailheads every few miles along the route. Pittsburgh’s rapid transit system runs near some of these, and it is bike friendly. The Trail is ADA accessible as well.

Stepping Up: Volunteers
Tribune-Review, July 2022

Trail Named Best in the ‘Burgh, Again!
Pittsburgh Magazine, July 2022

New: Southpointe Connector
Observer-Reporter, June 2022

Montour Named to PA Top-Ten Trails List
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, January 2021

How GAP Transformed a Region
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, May 2020

Montour Greenway Expansion
Tribune-Review, November 2019

Great American Rail-Trail Coming
Post-Gazette, May 2019

30 Years Championing Outdoors
Tribune-Review, March 2019

The Montour connects to other rails-to-trails in western Pennsylvania and beyond: the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) and the C&O Canal Towpath, a completed trail system that stretches 300+ miles from Pittsburgh to Washington, DC.; the Panhandle Trail — a converted railroad line that stretches from Weirton, West Virginia, to Carnegie. And this local resource is part of U.S. Bicycle Route 50, which runs east-west and, when completed, will span the country.

Currently, 46 miles of the Montour Trail are continuous with several short gaps in the southeast section.

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