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For more detailed information about the trails, you'll want to get a copy of a trail guide. Here are the books that cover various parts of the route from Pittsburgh PA to Washington DC. We begin with the books that are most focused on the ATA trails, then go on to other books with good coverage. |
| The trail from Pittsburgh to Washington is close enough to complete to make a good trip. Answers to common questions and directories to services and places to stay are collected in this small but powerful little book. Much of the content is available elsewhere at this site, but the book form may be more convenient. You can order from the Allegheny Trail Alliance, 419 College Ave, Greensburg PA 15601 for $3.50 (includes postage) or order it from Amazon.com. [1999, 32 pages] |
| For the Youghiogheny River Trail and the Allegheny Highlands Trail in Pennsylvania, you can't beat Trail Book '96. It's not available from Amazon.com, but you can get it from the affiliated trail councils, bike shops near the trail, and the Regional Trail Corporation. To order from RTC, send a check for $4.00 (includes postage) to Regional Trail Corp at PO Box 95, West Newton PA 15089-0095. [1996] |
| The fourth edition of the comprehensive guide to motor-free recreational trails all over western Pennsylvania, this guide covers all the open sections of the Pittsburgh to Cumberland Trail. In addition to trail descriptions, it features clear driving directions to trailheads and descriptions of the amenities along the trails. You can order from Shaw-Weil Associates, 414 South Craig St. #307, Pittsburgh PA 15213 for $14.93 (includes tax + postage) or order it from Amazon.com [1999, 260 pages] |
| Palmer explored the Youghiogheny valley from its headwaters in the Maryland mountains to its end in the industrial borders of Pittsburgh. Join him to meet the land and the people of the valley, both past and present. This isn't the usual sort of trail guide, but it's an excellent narrative about a major stretch of the trail. Order it from Amazon.com [1984, 337 pages] |
These two books are actually walking tour guides to
Pittsburgh, but their narratives provide insights that
bicyclists will enjoy. The trails bring you very close to
some of the areas they describe.
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| This compact bike-bag-sized volume (3.75" x 8.5") has a 2-page spread for each of the rail-trails in Pennsylvania that includes a photograph, a paragraph each on history and highlights, and a sketch map. Order it from Amazon.com [1998, 140 pages] |
| The national Rails-to-Trails Conservancy publishes a series of "40 Best" books, each sampling from three to six states. This volume covers Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio. It has sections on most of the components of the Pittsburgh to Cumberland Trail. You can get it from the Rails to Trails Conservancy for $14.95+s/h (they'll take telephone orders) or order it from Amazon.com [1995, 281 pages] |
| This is the definitive guide to the C&O Canal Towpath, which starts at Cumberland and completes the connection to Washington DC. Hahn identifies everything from even the most obscure culvert or waste weir to the names of the lockmasters who once served the canal--down to the hundredth of a mile. This is hardly surprising, for Hahn is an industrial archaeologist. It's definitely idiosyncratic, but a favorite for many. Amazon.com is currently reporting it as out of print. We usually see it at the National Park information centers along the canal. You can also try to order it from the C&O Canal Association (information on their Association Store page). It's revised every year or so. [1998, 224 pages] |
| The new kid on the block, this guide is more contemporary, if less detailed, than Hahn's. It has less information about what you're seeing and more narrative about the historical context.We prefer it to Hahn's for an overview, but not as the book to have with us on the trip. Order it from Amazon.com [1997, 269 pages] |
| To make it easy for you to
get these books, we include links for ordering them from Amazon.com. To order
several of these books, you may put each one in your
shopping cart and use the "back" button to
return here for the next book. Amazon.com is an on-line bookstore with secure procedures for credit card purchases. This page is a branch of Roy Weil's on-line bookstore, an affiliate of Amazon.com. To search for other books in Amazon's huge collection, you may go directly to Amazon's front page. Any proceeds from sales via this page will support ATA trail development. |
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[Overview Map] [ATA Information]
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| This page is part of the Allegheny Trail
Alliance's site in support of
the Pittsburgh to Cumberland Trail, a motor-free recreational trail providing the
western 40% of the motor-free connection between
Pittsburgh PA with Washington DC, connecting with the C&O
Canal Towpath. The ATA is an
alliance of seven trail organizations: Montour
Trail Council, Friends
of the Riverfront, Steel
Industry Heritage Corporation, Regional
Trail Corporation, Ohiopyle State Park, Somerset County Rails to Trails Association, and Allegheny Highlands in Md. It is brought to you in cooperation with the
authors of FreeWheeling Easy in Western Pennsylvania. Smilin' Bill Metzger, Culprit-in-chief. Mary Shaw, Lead accomplice. Roy Weil, Master byte mechanic. Pam Metzger, Co-conspirator. Copyright © 1998, 1999 variously by Allegheny Trail Alliance, Bill Metzger, Mary Shaw, and Roy Weil. All rights reserved. We encourage you to create links to this site and to print copies of the maps for your personal use. We do not grant permission for you to copy parts of this site for any other use. We absolutely prohibit the use of any portion of this site to generate spam or other mass communications. This page was last modified on 11/03/99. Comments to the ATA office. |
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