We had perfect weather today, so I took a nice 31 mile ride on my favorite trail hands down, AVTA’s Allegheny River Trail.  I know, I know… I sung the praises of the Sandy Creek Trail in an earlier post, and that is the best, mile-for-mile trail I’ve ever been on, the Allegheny trail is long, has plenty of access points and is just a great flat, smooth, all-out rockin’ trail.  It only really gets busy in and around Franklin, which is the primary trail head.  It follows the Allegheny River pretty much its entire length, which can get a little monotonous, but the valley is really gorgeous, so really, I take that back.

The trail goes much longer.  If you start with the connecting Justus Trail in Oil City, it’s 37 miles of consistent paved trail along the river.  It has the unparalleled Kennerdell Tunnel in the southern portion, which is 3/4 mile long and has a bend.  (Key here – you can not see the end of the tunnel until you make a turn, extremely disconcerting, and downright dangerous without some kind of artificial light.  I’ve escorted unprepared bikers through it.  Bring. A. Light.)

The easiest trailheads to get to are Franklin, Emlenton, and Oil City.  Belmar is a nice one to get to, because it’s an excuse to go across the Belmar Bridge on the Sandy Creek Trail.  The southern/middle sections are a little more isolated to get to by car.  There used to be a portage section due to some property acquisition problems, that was a little difficult to traverse, but they have paved around that now, so you can get from beginning to end without a problem.  I haven’t attempted to go south to Foxburg before, I’ve only gone down to Emlenton.  I’m not entirely clear if the trail picks up again after you go through Emlenton.  Maps I’ve seen still have you riding along a state route to Foxburg.  (Foxburg Inn is a nice place to stay and/or eat if you’re driving into the area!)