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E-bikingBikingWalkingRunningHikingBirdingHorseback ridingCross-country skiingand more
The Plainfield & Stockertown Rail Trail runs 8 miles through Northampton County's Slate Belt, from West Pen Argyl south to the borough of Stockertown. It joins the Plainfield Township Recreation Trail with the one-mile Stockertown Rail Trail extension. The corridor follows Little Bushkill Creek and crosses it five times on wooden bridges, losing about 300 feet of elevation on a rail grade that never feels like a climb. Most of the route is paved, with hard-packed ballast and gravel near the Pen Argyl end and short grassy stretches. Trailheads at Belfast Junction, Knitters Hill, and Buss Street have parking and picnic areas. Woods and farm edges alternate along the way, and horses share the path.
Plainfield & Stockertown Rail Trail
Your comfort. Prognosticated.
-Cory
In a typical year the Plainfield & Stockertown Rail Trail has about 116 to 165 days of excellent weather for popular activities such as hiking, dog walking, birding, e-biking, 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 Plainfield & Stockertown Rail Trail!
In half of past years, color along the Plainfield & Stockertown Rail Trail peaks October 21 to November 2, typically around October 27. The trail has 34% deciduous coverage, with the majority being chestnut oak, red maple, northern red oak, white oak, and white ash.
Slate built this railroad. The quarries of the Slate Belt around Pen Argyl and Bangor made this corner of Northampton County the world's largest slate producer for a time, and the quarries needed a way to ship roofing slate to market. The Bangor and Portland railway began operations in 1880 and ran steam locomotives along this corridor between Bangor and Portland, serving the quarries along Little Bushkill Creek. The line crossed the creek again and again on its way down the valley to Belfast Junction near Stockertown, where it met other roads. Slate traffic carried the railroad well into the twentieth century. By the 1970s the quarries had faded and the line passed to Conrail. Conrail abandoned it in 1981. Six years later, in 1987, Plainfield Township bought the 6.7-mile, 51.80-acre railroad bed from Conrail and set out to make a hiking and biking trail, using Rails-to-Trails, CDBG, PennDOT, and DCNR grants. The Plainfield Township Recreation Trail opened on November 1, 1991. Stockertown later added the one-mile Stockertown Rail Trail from Route 191 to Bushkill Street, carrying the route into the borough. Plainfield Township now works with Northampton County and Bushkill Township on the Two Rivers Trail Gap 9A project, which will extend the trail north to the Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center.
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