The Greenway Sojourn 2007:
Dream Ride for Rail-Trail Fans

It's time to celebrate! This month the east coast's longest rail-trail—the 150-mile Great Allegheny Passage—will connect to the popular, 184.5-mile Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park in Cumberland, Md. Together they form the spine of the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, stretching from Washington, D.C. almost to Pittsburgh.

"Combined, these two trails create the longest multi-purpose trail in the country," says Tom Sexton, director of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's (RTC) Northeast Regional Office. "What really make it stand out, besides its length, are the services found immediately adjacent to the corridor. Bike shops, restaurants, bed-and-breakfasts, shuttle services and more are being established in key spots to serve travelers' every need. It will be a great destination."

To recognize 20 years of passionate dedication and hard work on the Great Allegheny Passage, RTC's sixth annual Greenway Sojourn, June 23-30, 2007, will lead 500 cyclists on the grand opening ride. Starting in the nation's capital, Sojourn riders will pedal the scenic towpath of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park. The park features many surviving locks, lock houses, aqueducts and other structures that help tell the canal's story. The ride will including overnight camping along the route, with heritage stops in Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and restored Fort Frederick, the site of Maryland's frontier defense in the French and Indian War. The C&O's western terminus in Cumberland will offer its own interests as a town on the National Historic Register.

The route then continues on the gently graded, mostly wilderness Great Allegheny Passage. This crushed stone trail features friendly rural towns, sweeping mountain vistas, the rushing Youghiogheny River (yaw-ki-GAY-nee), and the dramatic engineering of bridges, tunnels and viaducts. With active rail lines often just across the river, passing trains are a reminder of the trail's heritage. From McKeesport, Pa., currently the end of this continuous stretch, Sojourners will cycle a few added road miles then return to a segment of trail to finish the trek to Pittsburgh.

Scouting the Great Allegheny Passage
In mid-November RTC staffers and volunteers scouted the rail-trail portion of the Great Allegheny Passage along with representatives of the Allegheny Trail Alliance (ATA), the coalition responsible for building the Great Allegheny Passage and RTC's partner in the 2007 Greenway Sojourn.

The scouting ride yielded several highlights that Sojourn participants will be treated to, come June:

• Views of misty valleys and the mountains as you ride over the Mason-Dixon Line and into Big Savage Tunnel, a well-lit gem of the Passage that was officially opened in 2006.
• A hundred feet in the air, you'll sail across the 1,908-foot Salisbury Viaduct, which once carried the railroad across the Casselman River valley.
• You'll follow the Youghiogheny River through Ohiopyle State Park—the first stretch of rail-trail to open 20 years ago on the Great Allegheny Passage. No wonder this wooded trail was an immediate sensation, with rocky outcroppings above and many small waterfalls. Giant boulders stud the bank and winding river—the most popular whitewater east of the Mississippi.