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The Five Bridges Trail follows about eight miles of the former Pittsburg and Shawmut Railroad between Allens Mills and the edge of Brockway in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania. The Brockway end sits off Arch Street about a mile south of downtown. From there the old grade passes through several narrow shale cuts, then settles into a low, wet valley along Mill Creek, which it crosses on the five rebuilt bridges that give the trail its name. Beaver ponds and wetlands line much of the middle miles. The surface is still unpaved and in a natural state, so expect a rough ride better suited to wide tires than a road bike. Grades are rail-trail flat the whole way.
Five Bridges Trail
Your comfort. Prognosticated.
-Cory
In a typical year the Five Bridges Trail has about 108 to 148 days of excellent weather for popular activities such as hiking, dog walking, e-biking, running, biking, birding, and walking, with May, September, 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 Five Bridges Trail!
In half of past years, color along the Five Bridges Trail peaks October 14 to 26, typically around October 19. The trail has 42% deciduous coverage, with the majority being red maple, black cherry, and northern red oak.
The Brookville and Mahoning Railroad finished laying track between Brookville and Brockway in October 1907. The company had been planned on July 21, 1903, to move coal from the fields south of Brookville north to a connection at Brockway, and its first section, from Brookville to Ramsaytown, opened in April 1907. In 1910 the road took the name Pittsburg and Shawmut Railroad. Its single-track main line eventually ran about 88 miles from Brockway south to Freeport on the Allegheny River. Coal was the principal commodity for the railroad's entire existence. The Shawmut broke away from its parent, the Pittsburg, Shawmut and Northern, in August 1916 and ran as an independent short line for eighty years. Genesee and Wyoming bought it in 1996. The final Shawmut train ran out of Brookville on April 29, 1996. The main line between Brookville and Brockway was removed in 2003. Five years later, in 2008, Tricounty Rails to Trails acquired the right-of-way for the Five Bridges Trail, the eight miles between Brockway and Allens Mills that cross Mill Creek on five bridges. The bridges had rotted, and in late 2012 volunteers rebuilt their decks with 95 ties donated by the Stella-Jones Corporation and a telescopic forklift lent by Apple Tractor of Brockway. The trail remains unpaved and in a natural state, and the group's goal is to open the rest of the corridor to Brookville and join the Redbank Valley Trail.
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