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E-bikingBikingWalkingRunningHikingBirdingHorseback ridingCross-country skiingand more
The Main Line is the Montour Trail's 48-mile arc around the western and southern reaches of Pittsburgh, from the Ohio River at Coraopolis to the Monongahela at Clairton. It climbs the Montour Run valley to Enlow and Imperial, crosses the McDonald Viaduct over the Panhandle Trail, passes through the National and Greer tunnels near Cecil and Hendersonville, and drops down Peters Creek to Clairton, where a short on-road stretch and a park road fill the last gap. The surface is smooth crushed limestone with asphalt sections, and grades never top 2 percent. Three branches leave it: the Airport Connector at Enlow, the Westland Branch at Gilmore Junction, and the Bethel Branch at Library Junction.
Montour Trail: Main Line
Your comfort. Prognosticated.
-Cory
In a typical year the Montour Trail: Main Line has about 111 to 152 days of excellent weather for popular activities such as hiking, dog walking, e-biking, birding, running, biking, 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 Montour Trail: Main Line!
In half of past years, color along the Montour Trail: Main Line peaks October 18 to 29, typically around October 23. The trail has 37% deciduous coverage, with the majority being black cherry, red maple, white ash, sugar maple, northern red oak, and yellow-poplar.
The Montour Railroad hauled its first coal in June 1879, from the Dickson Mine at Cliff Mine to barges on the Ohio River at Coraopolis. The Imperial Coal Company had organized the railroad in 1877 to reach its mines near Imperial. Passenger and mail trains ran the main line from 1879 until 1927. In 1899 the Pittsburgh Coal Company bought Imperial Coal and its railroad. From 1913 to 1914 it laid a 32-mile Mifflin Extension around Pittsburgh's South Hills to Bethel Park. Branches followed: Library in 1918, Muse in 1921, and Westland in 1928. During World War II the Montour shipped more than 300,000 tons of coal a month. The coal market fell in the 1970s, mines closed, and the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie, sole owner by 1976, cut the line back. The last Montour crew was called on November 1, 1984. Full abandonment took effect in May 1986. Volunteers chartered the Montour Trail Council in November 1989. In 1991 it bought 38 miles of right of way from the P&LE for $220,000. The first 4.4 miles of trail opened at Cecil Park in October 1992. The council has built the trail piece by piece since, earning National Recreation Trail status in 2004. The Main Line segment holds the whole arc from Coraopolis to Clairton: the Enlow, National, and Greer tunnels, the McDonald Viaduct, and the last miles along Peters Creek on a former Pennsylvania Railroad branch bought in 1997.
Panhandle TrailMontour Trail: Airport ConnectorMontour Trail: Westland BranchMontour Trail: Bethel Branch
