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The South segment of the Indian Creek Valley Trail runs just over five miles from the old depot town site of Indian Creek, below Mill Run, past the Indian Creek Reservoir and its stone dam and down the Indian Creek gorge to the Youghiogheny River. It follows the old Indian Creek Valley Railroad on the east bank of the creek. The reservoir stretch is gravel road; below Killarney Road the 2019 gorge section is crushed limestone. The grade drops steadily, steeper than most rail trails, and ends at an undecked railroad bridge above the Youghiogheny with no road access, so plan an out-and-back from Killarney Road. Beyond the north end, the North segment continues up the valley to Jones Mills.
Indian Creek Valley Trail: South
Your comfort. Prognosticated.
-Cory
In a typical year the Indian Creek Valley Trail: South has about 107 to 152 days of excellent weather for popular activities such as hiking, dog walking, e-biking, biking, birding, running, 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 Indian Creek Valley Trail: South!
In half of past years, color along the Indian Creek Valley Trail: South peaks October 18 to 27, typically around October 22. The trail has 68% deciduous coverage, with the majority being red maple, sugar maple, black cherry, northern red oak, and yellow-poplar.
The Indian Creek Lumber Company bought 5,347 acres of Laurel Hill timber and needed a railroad to move it. The Indian Creek Valley Railroad was chartered in 1902 and building began in 1906. By 1910 the line was finished, running 22 miles from a junction with the Baltimore and Ohio on the Youghiogheny River up Indian Creek to Jones Mills. Trains carried passengers, lumber, and coal from local mines through Mill Run, Indian Head, Melcroft, and Champion. Mining outlasted the timber. The Melcroft Coal Company worked the Lower Kittanning seam, and by the 1940s Koppers ran the mine as Indian Creek No. 4. The Baltimore and Ohio took over the right of way in 1926. The rail line officially shut down in 1975, the year the Melcroft mine closed. In 1976 the railroad donated the 22-mile right of way to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. Saltlick Township opened the first six miles of trail in 1989. The Mountain Watershed Association took on its first section in 1999 and opened a second phase in Donegal Township in 2009. The gorge section down to the Youghiogheny was finished in August 2019 after four years of work. In 2023 the association closed a half-mile gap in Mill Run, and it is now working to link the remaining pieces into 19 miles of continuous trail. The South segment holds the lower valley below Mill Run, the vanished depot town of Indian Creek, the reservoir, and the 2019 gorge section.
