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EYE ON:
Pennsylvania’s Roaring
Run Trail
Along the Kiskiminetas River in the
northern Laurel Highlands east of
Pittsburgh, a strong local movement has
helped extend the
one
mile into the town of Apollo. Te proj-
ect has been driven by the Roaring Run
Watershed Society (RRWS), an organi-
zation that works to preserve the area’s
natural assets and promotes opportuni-
ties for outdoor recreation.
Tanks to the popularity of trails
such as the Ghost Town, West Penn and
Hoodlebug, rail-trail tourism is now an
important commercial asset for many
towns in this area—and Apollo would
like to join that group.
Earlier this year, Rails-to-Trails
Conservancy (RTC) brought 250 riders
to the region for the 2011 Greenway
Sojourn bicycle tour. Celebrating estab-
lished trails in that area, the Sojourn
also cast a spotlight on trail connections
that still need to be made, and what the
counties and trail managers can do to
encourage more tourism.
According to Rich Dixon, mayor
of Apollo Borough and RRWS vice
president, trail advocates and business-
people in Apollo were disappointed
the 2011 Sojourn route bypassed their
community. Te problem: Te Roaring
Run ended a mile short of downtown
Apollo. Tis seemingly small disconnect
had kept thousands of trail users from
visiting the town, instead stopping for
meals and rest in the communities that
directly connect to other major trails in
the region.
To bridge this crucial gap, RRWS
raised $45,000 to purchase small sec-
tions of property and fund construction.
Tough aided by contributions from
RTC, Apollo Borough and People’s
Natural Gas—which will piggyback on
trail construction work by laying a gas
line—much of the money came from
the local business community.
“We ran a number of campaigns over
the past year to complete the extension,”
says Dixon, “and we always had great
support from local businesses, and from
the borough.”
Local businesspeople are already
positioning themselves to take advantage
of the extra trafc; one area hotelier has
begun revamping his establishment to
target the outdoor recreation market.
“Bringing the trail into town is
certainly going to help him, help the
restaurants, help the canoe and kayak
operator,” says Dixon. “Te trail now
takes visitors right into the main street
of Apollo.”
In August, RRWS volunteers blazed
the trail, beating back brush and trees
along a corridor between private land
and the river’s edge. Next, contractors
hired by RRWS made drainage improve-
ments and graded the corridor before
laying crushed limestone for the trail’s
surface.
Planners say by the end of 2011, the
extension will be completed, and the
Roaring Run will enter Apollo at the
intersection of state routes 56 and 66.
Te one-mile extension is also a cru-
cial link in a bigger chain, as the Roaring
Run and nearby West Penn Trail have
been identifed as key elements of the
proposed Pittsburgh-to-Harrisburg Main
Line Canal Greenway. Te Pennsylvania
Department of Conservation and
Natural Resources plans to complete
a continuous land- and water-based
recreation system between the two
cities—a 320-mile trail corridor through
towns in Blair, Westmoreland, Indiana,
Armstrong and Cambria counties. Some
of the trail segments are already in place.
Te extension of the Roaring Run into
Apollo represents the start of work to
complete the missing links.
“Te success of a connected green-
way through the region will depend
largely on the energy and vision of local
groups like the Roaring Run Watershed
Society,” says Tom Sexton, director of
RTC’s Northeast Regional Ofce. “It’s
fantastic that groups like this understand
not only the signifcance of local trails to
their community, but how by bridging
gaps and building broader, connected
systems we open the door to exponen-
tially greater recreational and commer-
cial opportunities.”
Already RRWS is looking at other
ways to connect Apollo to the myriad
trails in the region, including possible
extensions south to the West Penn and
Westmoreland Heritage trails.
For more information about the
Main Line Canal Greenway, visit
www.
mainlinecanalgreenway.org
.
This August,
workers cleared
brush for the
Roaring Run
extension, which
is set to be
completed by the
end of 2011.
Trail Under Construction:
Roaring Run Extension
Location:
Pennsylvania
Used Railroad Corridor:
Pennsylvania Railroad
Apollo Industrial Track
Length:
1 mile
Proposed Surface:
Crushed
limestone
Courtesy of Rich Dixon/Roaring Run Watershed Society (2)
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