Mahoning Shadow Trail

The Mahoning Shadow Trail runs 15 miles across southern Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, from the Fordham Trailhead near Valier through Punxsutawney to Winslow. It follows the old Pennsylvania and North Western Railroad grade along Mahoning Creek, past a row of restored coke ovens, over the redecked creek bridge at Water Street, and under US 119 at Indiana Street in Punxsutawney. East of town the route uses the borough flood control dike, passes the skate park and ball fields, then enters thick woods toward Cloe. Beyond Cloe the trail leaves the creek and climbs steadily to the Winslow end. The surface is crushed stone with a short on-street link through Punxsutawney.

• Railroad agents began buying land for this corridor in the mid 1880s for a line meant to run from Altoona to Pittsburgh; it never got past Fordham, a village the railroad planned and built itself.
• The line's eastern connection to the Pennsylvania Railroad network was at Cresson, about 40 miles southeast of Punxsutawney.
• The coke ovens between the Fordham and Water Street trailheads smelted bituminous coal into coke, the fuel of the steel mills.
• The trail's name joins Mahoning Creek with the famous shadow of Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog.
• By January 2000 the association held the whole corridor: David and Debbie Osikowicz sold 7.3 miles and the Prushnok brothers contributed 7.1 miles.
• Through Punxsutawney the trail rides the top of the borough flood control dike on the south side of Mahoning Creek.
• The trail was named a National Recreation Trail in 2006.
• In Punxsutawney the trail passes Phil's burrow at the town library, along with the community pool, ball fields, and the skate park.
• The Mahoning Shadow Shuffle, a half marathon, 10K, and 5K on the trail, is run on the second Saturday of October and helps fund the association.

Railroad agents started buying farmland along Mahoning Creek in the mid 1880s for a line that was supposed to create an additional link between Altoona and Pittsburgh. The Pennsylvania Northwestern Railroad laid the track in the early 1890s, just as coal mines and coke ovens were opening along the creek. The road never reached Pittsburgh. Construction stopped about four miles southwest of Punxsutawney at Fordham, a village the railroad planned and built as its western end. To the east, the line tied into the Pennsylvania Railroad at Cresson, and the Pennsylvania Railroad later absorbed it. Trains hauled coal and coke out of the valley and carried passengers to Winslow, Cloe, Punxsutawney, Clayville, Sportsburg, Horatio, and Fordham. Passenger service ended in the 1940s. Freight ran into the 1980s, then the line was deactivated. Local families bought pieces of the corridor in the early 1990s, and the Punxsutawney Area Rails to Trails Association formed in February 1994 after a public meeting called by the Chamber of Commerce. By January 2000 the association owned the whole route and had redecked the Mahoning Creek bridge near Water Street. Phase I, from Indiana Street west to Fordham, opened in 2002. Phase II, from the skateboard park east to Winslow, opened in 2004. A third phase joined the two halves through town by putting the trail on top of the borough flood control dike. The trail became a National Recreation Trail in 2006 and is still run by the volunteer association on donations and fundraisers.

• Water Street TrailheadMILE 6Directions
• Punxsutawney: Indiana StreetMILE 7.3Directions
• Punxsutawney Skateboard ParkMILE 8.7Directions
• Cloe TrailheadMILE 10.8Directions
• Winslow TrailheadMILE 15Directions

• Pennsylvania DCNR · Mahoning Shadow Trail
• Punxsutawney Area Rails to Trails Association · History of the Association
• Rails-to-Trails Conservancy · Pennsylvania's Mahoning Shadow Trail
• The Courier Express · Mahoning Shadow Trail
• Punxsutawney Borough · Mahoning Shadow Trail