Great Allegheny Passage
Chosen by National Geographic as one of the "Top Fall Trips In The World," the Great Allegheny Passage winds through Maryland’s mountains and along Wills Creek, giving bicyclists, hikers, and cross-country skiers some of the most majestic views in the east.
Just off of Depot Street, the Frostburg Trail switchback drops riders down to the Frostburg trailhead of the Great Allegheny Passage on the Allegheny Highlands Trail. An excellent opportunity for biking, walking, and sightseeing, the trail is an excellent recreational facility that runs from Cumberland, MD to Pittsburgh, PA. and connects to the C&O Trail running to Washington D.C.
From Frostburg, travelers can head west to ascend the Eastern Continental Divide, ride through the Borden Tunnel, cross the Mason & Dixon Line, and catch spectacular views into four states at the overlook outside the lighted Big Savage Tunnel. Or, travelers can head east and gradually descend the Eastern Continental Divide into Cumberland 12 miles away. Along the way, travelers pass through the Brush Tunnel and bend around the 180˚ Helmstetter’s Curve, paralleling the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad.
For trail rules and to report trail issues, please visit the Allegany County site.
The Great Allegheny Passage can trace its beginning to June 9, 1978, when the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy purchased the first property that would become the GAP from the Western Maryland Railway Company.
In 1978, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, on behalf of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, purchased 27 miles of the railroad in the Yough Gorge from Connellsville to Confluence. Nine miles of trail from Ohiopyle to Ramcat, near Confluence, were opened in 1986. This was the best possible advertisement for the rails-to-trails movement; people flocked to it by the thousands, then hundreds of thousands.
Rail trail groups formed all along the corridor and it became apparent that a continuous trail was possible from Pittsburgh to Cumberland to Washington, DC. A Trail Summit was held in September, 1995. The consensus of the Summit was that the contiguous trail organizations should unite and the Allegheny Trail Alliance was born.
In 2001, the trail was christened the Great Allegheny Passage with its own logo, and later in the year 100 continuous miles were opened from Meyersdale to McKeesport.
