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The Shenango River Trail is a natural-surface path on the old Erie Extension Canal towpath in Mercer County, Pennsylvania. It runs close to eight miles along the Shenango River from the Big Bend Trailhead, at the head of Shenango River Lake, through New Hamburg to Kidds Mill Covered Bridge, the county's last covered bridge. The grade is towpath flat, and the whole way sits under a closed hardwood canopy with the river in view for long stretches. Volunteers with Shenango River Watchers maintain it as a multi-use trail for hikers, runners, riders on horseback, and birders. Look for the shape of the canal prism and the odd stone remnant beside the tread.
Shenango River Trail
Your comfort. Prognosticated.
-Cory
In a typical year the Shenango River Trail has about 107 to 143 days of excellent weather for popular activities such as hiking, dog walking, e-biking, biking, running, walking, and birding, 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 Shenango River Trail!
In half of past years, color along the Shenango River Trail peaks October 20 to 31, typically around October 24. The trail has 33% deciduous coverage, with the majority being red maple, black cherry, northern red oak, American beech, and sugar maple.
Mules towed canal boats along this stretch of the Shenango River for a generation before the water rose behind Shenango Dam. The Erie Extension Canal, also called the Beaver and Erie Canal, was Pennsylvania's link between the Ohio River and Lake Erie. Work on its Shenango Division began in 1836, running 61 miles from Pulaski north to Conneaut Lake. The whole line from Beaver to Erie opened to traffic in 1844. Boats carried timber and hay from Crawford County farm towns down to Pittsburgh, and goods from the Great Lakes came the other way. Big Bend grew up as a canal village, with the Shenango House Hotel from about 1830, a lock, a lockkeeper's house, and Dam Number 2 on the river. In 1846 an iron furnace went into blast there. Railroads drew the trade away, and in 1871 the aqueduct over Elk Creek in Erie County caved in. The canal was abandoned in 1872. The village of Big Bend faded and was empty before 1940. The Army Corps of Engineers finished Shenango Dam in 1965 for flood control, and the lake now begins just below Big Bend. The Big Bend Historical Area, 204 acres of canal and furnace remains, went on the National Register in 1975. Today the towpath is a natural-surface trail from Big Bend to Kidds Mill Covered Bridge, kept open by Shenango River Watchers volunteers, with the canal prism still visible beside the tread.
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