RailTrailWxRailTrailWx
E-bikingBikingWalkingRunningHikingBirdingFishingCross-country skiingand more
Browns Run Trail is a short crushed stone rail trail in German Township, Fayette County, on the grade of the old Monongahela Railroad line west of Masontown. The open section runs a little under two miles between the Route 21 lot on McClellandtown Road and the Ferry Road access above the Monongahela River, with a second lot on Short Cut Road between them. The trail follows Browns Run down off the plateau toward the river and crosses the creek four times on small bridges. It is rail-grade flat and heavily wooded, with benches, a picnic area, and Clark Park playground and pavilion. Plans call for a 12 mile route east through Leckrone and Highhouse to Smithfield, joining the Sheepskin Trail.
Browns Run Trail
Your comfort. Prognosticated.
-Cory
In a typical year the Browns Run Trail has about 111 to 154 days of excellent weather for popular activities such as hiking, dog walking, e-biking, birding, biking, running, and walking, with April, May, and October the best months.
Hourly comfort scores for the next 15 days of weather, tuned to your activity and your own thresholds.
Plan your visit to this trail. Get the best windows for a comfortable outing.
Enjoy the Browns Run Trail!
In half of past years, color along the Browns Run Trail peaks October 20 to 29, typically around October 24. The trail has 40% deciduous coverage, with the majority being black cherry, red maple, yellow-poplar, sugar maple, and northern red oak.
A branch of the Monongahela Railroad was laid down Browns Run in the early twentieth century to carry coal and coke out of German Township to the steel mills of Pittsburgh. The Monongahela Railway itself was a joint venture of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie; its first board met in January 1901, and the Baltimore and Ohio bought a one third interest in 1927. Coke plants at Leckrone, a few miles east of the trail, began construction in mid 1899 and drew their first coke on June 2, 1900, served by the Baltimore and Ohio's Smithfield and Masontown Branch. The B and O interchanged with the Monongahela at Leckrone. As the mines and ovens closed, the Browns Run line lost its traffic and was abandoned. The Monongahela Railway disappeared into Conrail on May 1, 1993. In 1990 the abandoned right of way was sold to Ross Rifle and Bob Croushore for one dollar. In 1999 the trail gained a logo and its first tenth of a mile of built path, the year the Browns Run Trail opened. German Township took the project on, and by 2022 about 1.9 miles of packed stone ran from the Route 21 lot down to the Ferry access, where the bridge over Browns Run stood closed. Clark Park, with its playground and pavilion, was added in 2021. The plan is a 12 mile trail to Smithfield and the Sheepskin Trail.
None
