Travel Guide for the MONTOUR TRAIL - Pittsburgh Purple Travel Guide
We tell you why you should visit the MONTOUR TRAIL in the Pittsburgh area and what you need to know.
The Montour Trail is part of a 204 mile (328 km) “Rails to Trails” project between Pittsburgh and the city of Cumberland in Maryland. The 59 mile Montour Trial follows the path of the former Montour Railroad which was a privately owned railroad of the Imperial Coal Company which transported coal from their mines in Allegheny and Washington Counties and, for a short period of time, also passengers.
As the mines closed, so did the railroad in 1984. Many of the Rights-of-Ways were purchased by the Montour Trail Council in 1990 for the "Rails to Trails" program and this is what you can now enjoy as the Montour Trail. The Montour Trail is easy to hike, jog, bike or ski on in winter due to its crushed limestone and, in some areas, asphalted surface.
The fact that you can cross through some of the original railroad tunnels and over railroad trestles makes the trail even more interesting.
Two of the more popular areas are in Imperial (map) where you can walk through the Enlow Tunnel and in Peters Township (map) where you can walk over two bridges and through the Greer Tunnel.
In Peters Township, the first bridge you will cross coming from this parking lot (map) goes over Chartiers Creek. Then comes the Greer Tunnel and afterwards comes the Chartiers Creek High Bridge, which is the highest bridge on the Montour Trail. It crosses over active railroad tracks.
In Imperial, you will walk along Montour Run until you come to Enlow Tunnel which has since 2000. Keep walking further, until you come to Cliff Mine Rd. From here on, the scenery changes and you will walk along Cliff Mine Rd, some office buildings and further down the I-376 bridge. The trail is between the road and Montour Run all the time.
If this is too busy for you, you can walk back to where you parked your car and continue on. The trail gets noticeably quieter when you cross the 5-way intersection into the town of Imperial. Keep walking and soon you will see the railway car at the back of the Findlay Township Activity Center.
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