The Lower Trail

This mailbox greets riders at the Alfarata trailhead of the Lower Trail.

           For the longest time, I had the urge to bike ride after moving to Hollidaysburg. I walked every square inch of the borough in about 20 minutes. I also hiked many of the local trails within driving distance of my apartment. Walking every day in exhausting heat and traffic no longer had allure. (It never did).

I finally got my bike here one weekend, but there was one problem – where do you ride in Altoona? In the same traffic I walked time-and-time again? That didn’t sound fun.

I heard someone mention a nearby rail-trail a few weeks back. For those unfamiliar with them, rail-trails are just as the name suggests – old railroad beds are torn up and replaced with asphalt, gravel or other smooth materials so people can hike, walk and bike them.

It took some searching to find one near me since rail-trails are notorious for being located in relatively desolate locations. My search ended when I found one, the Lower Trail, just a minute or two away from Canoe Creek State Park.

            The thought of riding a rail-trail was exhilarating. I’ve had so many great memories of the Lehigh Gorge rail-trail back home. That one, which spans about 26 miles from White Haven to gorgeous Jim Thorpe (the town, not the athlete), follows the Lehigh River. On most days during spring through fall, you can see many bikers, kayakers and white water rafters, most of which are amiable folk who wave and yell "hi" with every passing. There are also the occasional bridges and trains, which gives the trail the feeling that it’s still a rail. I was anxious to experience this all again – this time in western Pennsylvania.

           I noted a couple details when I pulled into the parking lot. What I thought was the “Lower” Trail is actually pronounced like “flower.” The name comes from attorney T. Dean Lower. This is one of the only times I’ll ever commend an attorney, but Lower deserves the praise. The community saw the potential for a rail-trail along the Juniata River. Lower was an enthusiast for the outdoors, so he pulled some strings and managed to obtain the property from Penn Central Corp. to Rails to Trails of Central Pennsylvania Inc., most of the funding coming from his wallet.

The Lower Trail is 16.5 miles long, but the piece purchased in ‘89 was 11 miles and spanned from Williamsburg to Alfarata. The remaining 5.5 miles of trail was obtained in 2004, which extends from Williamsburg to the Hollidaysburg trail head where I now found myself.

The trail is privately managed by Rails to Trails of Central Pennsylvania Inc. with the help of donations from the public. That made me a little wary since the Lehigh Gorge trail is part of a state park and has a few spots in desperate need of renovation. If a state park had trouble managing a well-traversed trail, then what would the condition of this one be under private ownership?

           

I found out later that I had no reason to worry. The trail is composed of crushed limestone for the majority of its length, and it is evenly dispersed. There is also a two-mile asphalt section going through Williamsburg. Two miles doesn’t seem like much, but there were times on the 26-mile Lehigh Gorge trail where I would’ve killed for asphalt after hitting soft patches of dirt that can fling a person of a bike, in addition to the large potholes.

Every couple of yards, there are benches and picnic pavilions – almost all of them with a mounted name plaque of a contributor to the trail. The frequency of rest stops is a blessing, I won’t lie. There were designated bathrooms at certain points, as well.

   The trail still has its fair share of nature.

The entire trip went through a grove of trees and followed the banks of the Juniata River. There is supposed to be an abundance of wildlife around the trail, but the only thing I came across remotely close to an animal was a snake, which I ran over with my bike. (That was enough wildlife for one day.) I did hope to see a deer, beer or an eagle at some point, none of which crossed my path.

            What I found most interesting about the trail was the history of the area.

The Juniata River serving as a division of the Pennsylvania Canal. The canal was dug by hand from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, making it the first connection between the two major cities of its kind. The business and trade this canal generated is what converted my new home of Hollidaysburg from the trucker stop of the early 1800s to an essential point for the exchange of goods and people across the state of Pennsylvania for a few decades.

            The part of the canal I found myself riding along wasn’t the main canal but one of the five divisions that connected to it. This one, called the Juniata Division, started at a junction with the Susquehanna River at a place known as Duncan’s Island and eventually connected with the Hollidaysburg terminal. This division of the canal spanned 127 miles all together.

The Juniata Division started operation on Nov. 27, 1832. The main portion of the canal didn’t even open until March 1834, so the Juniata Division was alive and kicking before the main project was even finished. Oh, and just in case you were wondering about cost, the Juniata Division of the Pennsylvania Mainline Canal alone was $3.5 million alone.

But the cost was worth it, right?

       Sure … except for the fact that the Pennsylvania Railroad bought the Pennsylvania Canal in 1857 and decommissioned it. Most parts of the canal were victimized by neglect and flooding. Somehow, the Juniata Division survived until about 1888.

The ghost of the Juniata Division’s former self can still be found along the Lower Trail where stone locks exist to this day. These locks controlled the water levels so barges could access higher and lower parts of the canal.

The railroad where the trail stands today is nonexistent other than the wood and metal bridges that intersect the Juniata River in certain sections. Other than a few stone structures, bridges and plaques, the history of this region flowed down river years ago.
     Perhaps it was for the better.
     The Lower Trail is alive with walkers, joggers and bikers today. It serves as a place where the people of Blair and Huntingdon counties can get away from the hustle and bustle of highway traffic, honking horns and road rage.
     The trail seems to have an effect on the people using it. Out of the 50 some people I saw on the trail that day, only two didn’t respond to me as I passed them by. The rest had a smile on their face and returned a hello or asked how I was. I even rode along side a couple from the Gettysburg area who claimed to have ridden just about every rail-trail that exists in Pennsylvania. We exchanged tips about other trails and state parks that were worth seeing, and we gave our goodbyes when they realized how annoying I really was. The fact that they took time from their trip to have a 15-minute conversation with a complete stranger made me feel elated. I think other people feel the same way once they enter the woods of the Lower Trail.
     I also noticed that the trail does not acknowledge age. From what I noticed, the majority of people riding/walking/jogging the trail were elderly. I know it was a Friday in the morning when most people have work, but this is also during the summer. I expected to see more kids on the trail since there was no school to occupy their time.
   Whatever the circumstances, the number of seniors astounded me. Most of them were in their late 50s and early 60s. What floored me was when I saw a woman of about 85 riding a bike with a group of people ages 40 to about 70.
    I know people my age and younger who can’t ride a bike a mile without losing breath, and here was someone’s grandma showing up the rest of my generation. It’s great to see this. I’ve seen my fair share of seniors go into homes and spend the rest of their days engaging in a vegetative lifestyle. Any excuse to get them out of the home, even for a few hours, does more for these people than you know.
     The Lower Trail is needed near Altoona. In a city where drugs and violence are reported on an almost daily basis, there needs to be a place where the residents can take their kids and feel safe. The trail is also promoting history and fitness, which are two things I think we need to emphasize more for the younger generations.