Lower Trail (Pennsylvania) Weather Forecast & Planning Guide

Lower Trail, Blair, Huntingdon Counties, PA, 16.33 miles

Trail Facts

Length16 mi

Elevation717 to 884 ft

Grade0.2% average

Shade cover69%

Primary surfaceCrushed gravel

Secondary surfaceAsphalt

Activities

E-bikingBikingWalkingRunningHikingBirdingFishingKayakingHorseback ridingCross-country skiingand more

Connects To

September 11th National Memorial TrailJuniata River Water TrailMain Line Canal GreenwayMid State TrailGreat Eastern Trail

Managed By

Rails to Trails of Central Pennsylvania

Trivia

The trail is named for the family of Hollidaysburg attorney T. Dean Lower (rhymes with flower), whose 1990 gift in memory of his wife Jane and son Roger bought the corridor.
The Juniata Division of the Pennsylvania Canal, whose towpath the trail follows, packed 86 locks, 25 aqueducts, and 19 dams into its run.
Canal operation began on November 27, 1832, with the packet boat John Blair.
Building the 127-mile Juniata Division cost 3.5 million dollars, and an 1827 contract paid 200 dollars to clear and grub a 19-acre section.
More than 200 bird species make the Alfarata end of the valley their home for at least part of the year.
About 130,000 people use the trail each year.
Seventy percent of the corridor runs beneath valley walls that pitch up to 51 degrees.
The trail keeps a NNE to SSW heading for nearly half its length as it tracks the bends of the Frankstown Branch of the Juniata.
Charles Dickens came up this canal line by packet boat in March 1842 on his way over the Allegheny Portage Railroad and grumbled his way through the trip in American Notes.

About This Trail

The Lower Trail, whose name rhymes with flower, follows the Frankstown Branch of the Juniata River for about 16.3 miles between Alfarata, near Alexandria in Huntingdon County, and Flowing Spring in Blair County, with a connection to Canoe Creek State Park. The corridor stacks two transportation eras, the towpath of the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal and the Petersburg Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad laid over it. Riding is rail-grade flat on rolled crushed limestone, paved through Williamsburg, and deeply wooded, crossing the river on former railroad bridges past canal locks, quarry ruins, and the Mount Etna iron furnace. Station-style trailheads with restrooms anchor the route.

RailTrailWx TIPS

Lower Trail

Your comfort. Prognosticated.

The Lower Trail is my go-to trail. I've ridden it more than any other, and it never gets old. It's scenic, historic, peaceful, friendly, and full of flora and fauna.
It rides fast on some of the best crushed limestone gravel you'll find on any rail trail. Even the paved section is well maintained, with frost heaving occasionally ground down for a smoother ride.
A big thanks to all the volunteers who maintain this trail. They mow continually throughout summer, and downed trees are normally cleaned up within a day of falling. I've stepped over a huge tree on my outbound leg only to find it mysteriously gone an hour later on the return.
Plenty of shade and valley walls keep you cool in summer and sheltered from wind, but the trail can run humid as it winds through deep forest along the Juniata.
On sunny spring days with southwesterly winds, start early from Alfarata, by 8 or 9 AM. By the time you make the turn at Flowing Spring, the diurnal winds will have kicked in and you can catch a decent tailwind on the return leg.
After heavy rains, the trail takes about a day of sunshine to dry. A few muddier spots take longer, but they are navigable.
Late September through October brings beautiful fall colors along the trail, but watch for walnuts littering the path.
With 167 feet of total climb and a steepest sustained grade of 0.4 percent, direction planning is about wind, not slope. The Flowing Spring end sits about 165 feet higher than Alfarata.
Check Rails to Trails of Central Pennsylvania for updates on occasional trail closures due to repairs or other work.
The trail stays open all winter for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing rather than plowed riding, so expect snowpack to linger in the deep-shade miles well after a thaw.
There are two large, east-west water cuts that the Juniata makes through the ridges you travers along the Lower Trail. These cuts channel the wind, which can be surprisingly strong when it's a headwind and refreshing as a tailwind. The cut at Water Street really amplifies this effect.

-Cory

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Climate

Excellent biking days per month, 2011-2025 climatology

History

Canal boats came through this valley before trains did. Ground was broken for the Pennsylvania Canal System on July 4, 1826, and on November 27, 1832 the packet boat John Blair opened service on the Juniata Division, which followed the Frankstown Branch of the Juniata River for 127 miles from Duncan's Island to Hollidaysburg. From 1834, westbound boats were hauled out of the water there and carried over the mountains on the Allegheny Portage Railroad. Charles Dickens rode this canal west in March 1842 and set the journey down in American Notes. The canal's days were numbered once the Pennsylvania Railroad finished its main line across the state in 1854. The PRR bought the whole Main Line in 1857 and let it fade, though stretches of the Juniata Division stayed in service until 1888. On the old towpath alignment, the railroad laid its Petersburg Branch to haul limestone from quarries in the valley, and trains ran here until the corridor was abandoned in 1979. Ten years later, Rails to Trails of Central Pennsylvania bought the first eleven miles between Williamsburg and Alfarata from the Penn Central Corp., funded by Hollidaysburg attorney T. Dean Lower in memory of his wife Jane and son Roger. The trail that opened in 1992 carries the family name. An extension of five and a half miles reached Flowing Spring in 2004, a later link ties in Canoe Creek State Park, and the route now forms part of the September 11th National Memorial Trail.

Trailheads

Alfarata StationMILE 0Directions
Mount Etna StationMILE 5.1Directions
Cove Dale StationMILE 7.8Directions
Williamsburg StationMILE 11.1Directions
Grannas StationMILE 13.1Directions
Flowing Spring StationMILE 16.1Directions

Nearby trails

Bells Gap Rail Trail

6.3 mi·PA

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6 to 10 Trail

4.2 mi·PA

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Houtzdale Line Trail

9.4 mi·PA

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RailTrailWx TIPS

Lower Trail

Your comfort. Prognosticated.

The Lower Trail is my go-to trail. I've ridden it more than any other, and it never gets old. It's scenic, historic, peaceful, friendly, and full of flora and fauna.

It rides fast on some of the best crushed limestone gravel you'll find on any rail trail. Even the paved section is well maintained, with frost heaving occasionally ground down for a smoother ride.

A big thanks to all the volunteers who maintain this trail. They mow continually throughout summer, and downed trees are normally cleaned up within a day of falling. I've stepped over a huge tree on my outbound leg only to find it mysteriously gone an hour later on the return.

Plenty of shade and valley walls keep you cool in summer and sheltered from wind, but the trail can run humid as it winds through deep forest along the Juniata.

On sunny spring days with southwesterly winds, start early from Alfarata, by 8 or 9 AM. By the time you make the turn at Flowing Spring, the diurnal winds will have kicked in and you can catch a decent tailwind on the return leg.

After heavy rains, the trail takes about a day of sunshine to dry. A few muddier spots take longer, but they are navigable.

Late September through October brings beautiful fall colors along the trail, but watch for walnuts littering the path.

With 167 feet of total climb and a steepest sustained grade of 0.4 percent, direction planning is about wind, not slope. The Flowing Spring end sits about 165 feet higher than Alfarata.

Check Rails to Trails of Central Pennsylvania for updates on occasional trail closures due to repairs or other work.

The trail stays open all winter for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing rather than plowed riding, so expect snowpack to linger in the deep-shade miles well after a thaw.

There are two large, east-west water cuts that the Juniata makes through the ridges you travers along the Lower Trail. These cuts channel the wind, which can be surprisingly strong when it's a headwind and refreshing as a tailwind. The cut at Water Street really amplifies this effect.

-Cory