Allegheny River Trail: North (Pennsylvania) Weather Forecast & Planning Guide

Allegheny River Trail: North, Venango County, PA, 26.98 miles

Trail Facts

Length27 mi

Elevation903 to 982 ft

Grade0.1% average

Shade cover75%

Primary surfaceAsphalt

Secondary surfaceCrushed gravel, Coarse gravel

Activities

E-bikingBikingWalkingRunningHikingBirdingFishingKayakingand more

Connects To

Sandy Creek TrailSamuel Justus Recreation Trail

Managed By

Allegheny Valley Trails Association

Trivia

Indian God Rock, a large sandstone boulder beside the trail, carries petroglyphs the Carnegie Museum dates to roughly 1200 to 1750 AD and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1749 French envoy Pierre Joseph Celoron de Bainville buried a lead plate near Indian God Rock claiming the Ohio Valley for France; it was searched for but never found.
The Belmar Bridge that carries the corridor over the Allegheny River is 1,385 feet long, weighs 38,000 tons, and took more than a year to build, with the first train crossing on February 5, 1907.
The Rockland Tunnel is 2,868 feet long and the Kennerdell Tunnel is 3,350 feet long, both bored through the valley ridges and lit for trail use.
The Rockland Tunnel was completed in 1916 to bypass a landslide and icefall prone loop of track at Woodhill.
The Emlenton refinery at the trail's south end gave Quaker State its name, first used in 1914 for an oil blend made from Pennsylvania grade crude.
Five workers were killed building the Belmar Bridge, where laborers, many of them immigrants, earned $1.50 a day.

About This Trail

The northern reach of the Allegheny River Trail runs about 27 miles from Franklin south to Emlenton, tracing the eastern bank of the Allegheny River through Venango County. It is paved, flat, wooded and deeply shaded, with the river on one side and valley walls on the other. Riders pass the Sandy Creek Trail junction, the petroglyphs at Indian God Rock, and two long railroad tunnels, Kennerdell and Rockland, bored through the ridges. It is a quiet, remote ride where you can enjoy the serene beauty of the Allegheny River.

RailTrailWx TIPS

Allegheny River Trail: North

Your comfort. Prognosticated.

Large stretches of the northern portion of the trail are paved, so early-season users can enjoy this trail on nice days before the spring thaw.
The corridor runs snug against the Allegheny River and valley walls. Expects cool pockets when travelling along northern slopes, particularly from Belmar Bridge to Indian God Rock. The majority of the remainder of the trail is on western or southern slopes, so afternoon sunshine will filter through the tree canopy and warm you.
With roughly 75 percent canopy and 69 percent of the route in deep shade, the trail will feel relatively comfortable on hot summer days.
This is a river valley trail hugging the Allegheny, so expect morning fog off the water and pooled cold air on calm nights.
The route is quite flat, dropping less than 100 feet over 27 miles.
The Kennerdell and Rockland tunnels are long, cool, and can stay wet inside; bring a light and expect a sharp temperature drop passing through even on a hot day.
There are sections of the trail where you follow, graveled, local access roads. Keep the Allegheny River to your right (if traveling toward Emlenton), and you will be fine.

-Cory

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Enjoy the Allegheny River Trail: North!

Climate

Excellent biking days per month, 2011-2025 climatology

History

For centuries, the Allegheny River here was a travel corridor for American Indians, who left carvings on the sandstone landmark early settlers called Indian God Rock. In the 1850s the Allegheny Valley Railroad pushed up the eastern bank, and the line later became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad's Buffalo and Allegheny Valley Division, hauling crude oil, refined petroleum, and freight out of the booming Venango oil region. To carry the tracks across the river, the Jamestown, Franklin and Clearfield Railroad built the Belmar Bridge, a 1385’ span completed in 1907 at a cost of five workers' lives. The Rockland Tunnel followed in 1916, bored to bypass a slide prone loop of track at Woodhill. Rail traffic faded with the oil economy, and the last train crossed the Belmar Bridge in the 1980s. The Scrubgrass Generating Company acquired the corridor in 1984 and donated it to the all volunteer Allegheny Valley Trails Association, founded in 1990 to turn abandoned Allegheny watershed railways into trails. AVTA paved the grade into the Allegheny River Trail, installed a pedestrian deck on the Belmar Bridge in 2000, and today maintains almost 60 miles of connected paved trail from Oil City through Franklin to Emlenton.

Trailheads

FranklinMILE 0Directions
Deep Hollow TrailheadMILE 1.5Directions
Sandy Creek TrailMILE 5.3Directions
BrandonMILE 10.3Directions
Rockland TunnelMILE 21.3Directions
DotterMILE 24.1Directions
EmlentonMILE 27Directions

Nearby trails

Sandy Creek Trail

12 mi·PA

Explore Forecast

Samuel Justus Recreation Trail

7 mi·PA

Explore Forecast

Allegheny River Trail: South

2.6 mi·PA

Explore Forecast

RailTrailWx TIPS

Allegheny River Trail: North

Your comfort. Prognosticated.

Large stretches of the northern portion of the trail are paved, so early-season users can enjoy this trail on nice days before the spring thaw.

The corridor runs snug against the Allegheny River and valley walls. Expects cool pockets when travelling along northern slopes, particularly from Belmar Bridge to Indian God Rock. The majority of the remainder of the trail is on western or southern slopes, so afternoon sunshine will filter through the tree canopy and warm you.

With roughly 75 percent canopy and 69 percent of the route in deep shade, the trail will feel relatively comfortable on hot summer days.

This is a river valley trail hugging the Allegheny, so expect morning fog off the water and pooled cold air on calm nights.

The route is quite flat, dropping less than 100 feet over 27 miles.

The Kennerdell and Rockland tunnels are long, cool, and can stay wet inside; bring a light and expect a sharp temperature drop passing through even on a hot day.

There are sections of the trail where you follow, graveled, local access roads. Keep the Allegheny River to your right (if traveling toward Emlenton), and you will be fine.

-Cory