This Saturday, March 31st 2018, 10AM to 3PM, REI Settler’s Ridge is partnering with the Montour Trail Council to host the Rails to Trails Summit. Expect a roundup of active trail groups from Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. Learn about the great trail riding opportunities in the region, and what’s to come for future! Click on the photo for more details about the event.
County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper sponsors a ride each year to explore Erie County and encourage trail-building and explore the benefits of trail. On Friday, September 15, several local residents, county and state officials, employees and other riders rode alongside Dahlkemper on this explorative journey and all for a good cause.
Riders made a stop at The East Branch Trail extension project between Corry and Spartansburg, which is currently a gap along the Erie to Pittsburgh Trail that partners in the Industrial Heartland Trails Coalition has been making ongoing efforts to fill with more trail. This included a stop at a railroad crossing which revealed the Black Bridge. Deb Frawley, a Program Coordinator of Trails and Recreation with the Pennsylvania Environmental Council gave riders a little backstory on the gap and also explained the project that will include a rail-with-trail segment, and infrastructure issues such as obtaining the Black Bridge, a former railroad bridge, for trail usage.
The ultimate goal of this ride was to bring attention to the benefits of trails in the region, and the Erie to Pittsburgh Trail.
See more coverage on the ride here.
To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Indiana County Parks & Trails, Disobedient Spirits, Levity Brewing Co. and Noble Stein Brewing Company announce the second annual Spirits Along the Hoodlebug Event.
Details:
Date: October 14th
Time: 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
The event will begin at Levity Brewery at 11:00 am. A shuttle bus will take attendants to Noble Stein Brewery, and then to the trail head of the Hoodlebug to walk the trail with a local botanist to Homer City’s Disobedient Spirits. From there, attendants will be returned back to Levity.
Event Cost: $20 (cost includes the bus ride, and a sample at each location. Must be at least 21 years old for alcoholic beverage consumption).
For all of these reasons, the Industrial Heartland Trails Coalition (IHTC or “I Heart Trails,” for short) is partnering with local trail and community development organizations to host workshops in four communities this fall.
Corry, Pennsylvania – Sept. 11, 5:30-8:00 p.m.
Corry Higher Education Building, 221 N. Center St.
Local hosts: Impact Corry, Corry Area Chamber of Commerce, Clear Lake Authority (East Branch Trail), and Tri-County Snowblazers
Those in Corry, Erie, and other nearby communities are encouraged to attend.
New Philadelphia, Ohio – Sept 13, 5:00-7:30 p.m.
Travel Tuscarawas County Convention & Visitors Bureau, 124 E. High Ave.
Local hosts: Travel Tuscarawas County Convention & Visitors Bureau, Tuscarawas County Parks Department, and the Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition
Those in New Philadelphia, Dover, Tuscarawas, Zoar, Boswell, and other nearby communities are encouraged to attend.
New Castle, PA – Sept. 14, 5:00-7:00 p.m.
The Confluence, 214 E. Washington Street
Local hosts: Lawrence County and Lawrence County Tourist Promotion Agency
Those in New Castle, Union Township, Mahoning Township, and other nearby communities are encouraged to attend.
NOTE: We’re excited to share that this meeting will end with an open mic session in which community members will be invited to share their trail or community story. This fits the spirit of the Community Chats and also of The Confluence (the coffee shop’s tagline is “Coffee. Conversation. Community”) and should be loads of fun! So, please think about how how trails have improved your life and community and be ready to take the mic (optional, of course).
Steubenville, Ohio – Sept. 28, 5:30-8:00 p.m.
Grand Theatre, 121 South Fourth Street
Local hosts: Steubenville Revitalization
Those in Steubenville and other nearby communities are encouraged to attend.
RSVP to Amy Camp at amy@cycleforward.org or (412) 918-6563 (please indicate which workshop you’re attending).
The Industrial Heartland Trails Coalition is a group of over 100 agencies and organizations in the four-state area of Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, and West Virginia that is working to complete and connect the region’s trails. For each workshop, local partners are involved in the coalition and are eager to welcome experts on trails and tourism to speak with residents, business owners, and community leaders on how to take advantage of area trails.
The Community Chats were started in 2016, with workshops held in Canfield, OH; Kittanning, PA; Shinnston, WV; and Wheeling, WV.
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s (RTC) Rail-Trail Sojourns are more than just great rides (and they are great rides!); they’re powerful “trail-building tools” that highlight the incredible impact of long-distance trail routes on America’s communities.
Since 2001, RTC’s annual Rail-Trail Sojourns have guided thousands of riders from all over America along the most scenic trail networks in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York…and the list continues to grow.
Returning to the Montour Trail and the Great Allegheny Passage, the 2015 sojourn continues the trailblazing tradition of previous sojourns.
This year’s ride will visit new communities and utilize new camping and accommodation sites. Not only does this provide fresh attractions for returning riders, it also continues the sojourn’s theme of helping more communities boost their local economies through trail tourism.
Register Now!
Eric Oberg of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and Frank Maguire of PEC were selected to speak about the Industrial Heartland Trails Coalition at American Trails’ International Trails Symposium in Portland, OR, taking place May 17-20. Eric and Frank will work with other regional trail project leaders from around the Country on a three hour “core track” that focuses on how large regional trail projects are being managed. Other projects in the presentation include The Circuit in Philadelphia, Bay Area Trails Collaborative in the San Francisco Bay area and Central Ohio Greenways in Columbus, Ohio.
