Editor's note: This story appeared in the April 25 edition of the Altoona Mirror.
By Brian Yermal Jr.
A trail that follows mountain ridges through portions
of central and southern Pennsylvania has been named Pennsylvania’s “Trail of
the Year.”
The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
and the Pennsylvania Trails Advisory Committee designated the honor in March to
the Standing Stone Trail – an 84-mile footpath that ranges from Cowans Gap
State Park in Fulton County to the Detweiler Run Natural Area in Rothrock State
Forest in Huntingdon County.
A portion of the trail includes the Thousand Steps,
the stone staircase created by Harbison-Walker workers in 1936 as an easier way
to climb Jacks Mountain to reach ganister quarries between Mapleton and Mount
Union boroughs in Huntingdon County. Today, the steps serve as a local
attraction for hiking enthusiasts and tourists.
“We know that there’s thousands of people that go up
and down the Thousand Steps,” said Standing Stone Trail Club Vice President
George Conrad.
For winning the award, the Standing Stone Trail will
be featured on DCNR promotional posters statewide, according to a DCNR press
release. In addition, the Standing Stone Trail Club will receive a grant “for
educational programs to promote safety and environmental protection along the
trail,” Conrad said. The trail club and DCNR are working on planning a ceremony
in the future to commemorate the trail’s award, he said.
The Trail of the Year title for the Standing Stone
Trail means a lot to its club, Conrad said.
“It’s a huge honor for our club because our club motto
is to be the premier footpath of Pennsylvania,” he said, adding that the award
will help promote the trail to more people across the state.
This is the third year DCNR and the committee honored
a state trail. They awarded the title to the Heritage Rail Trail in York County
in 2015 and to the Redbank Valley Trails in Armstrong, Clarion and Jefferson
counties in 2014, according to DCNR’s website.
This year, the Standing Stone Trail beat almost two
dozen other trails for the honor, said DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn in a press
release.
“Standing Stone was singled out for 2016 because of
its quality, benefits to the region, tremendous dedicated volunteer network and
a multitude of strong partnerships,” Dunn said.
The trail also offers many scenic vistas and
opportunities for trail runners, hikers and rock climbers, Conrad said.
“It gives you a lot of time to reflect,” he said. “Our
goal is to bring people out into nature to experience it,” he added.
The Standing Stone Trail acts as a link to other major
trails in the area, as well.
One of them is the Mid State Trail, which starts at
the Pennsylvania-Maryland border and ends at the New York border for a distance
of more than 300 miles, according to the trail’s website. The Tuscarora Trail –
another large footpath spanning nearly 250 miles – connects to the Standing
Stone Trail, too, according to DCNR.
The Standing Stone Trail is also part of the 1,800-mile
Great Eastern Trail, which spans from Alabama to the Finger Lakes Trail in New
York, according to the Great Eastern Trail website.
Although the Standing Stone Trail might not be as
large as some of its neighboring footpaths, it still requires many volunteers
to keep it maintained, Conrad said.
The trail’s club consists of more than 100 volunteer
members who assist in various ways, including cleaning the trail of debris;
performing trail maintenance like building bridges and repainting trail
markers; writing and designing brochures and newsletters; and assisting hikers’
questions on the club’s Facebook page, Conrad said. The group also hosts events
where people can help clean the trail, including the upcoming “5-day Trail Care
Event” being held May 17-22, according to the club’s Facebook page.
The organization continues to accept new volunteers.
People interested in joining or supporting the Standing Stone Trail Club can
fill out an application on its website.
For more information about the Standing Stone Trail,
visit http://www.standingstonetrail.org/ or the club’s Facebook page: “Standing
Stone Trail and the Thousand Steps.”
Mirror Staff Writer Brian Yermal Jr. can be reached at
946-7445.
