West Creek Trail

The West Creek Trail follows the old Philadelphia and Erie Railroad grade for about 19 miles between Emporium in Cameron County and the north side of St. Marys in Elk County. It runs straight through downtown Emporium, then climbs the West Creek valley at a steady rail grade past the hamlets of West Creek, Rathbun, and Swissmont. The surface is crushed limestone, and the corridor is a four-season trail that hosts skiers and snowmobiles in winter. Expect a quiet valley with long wooded stretches, several creek crossings, and an old trestle near Jackson Road, with services concentrated at the Emporium end.

• The railroad that built this grade, the Sunbury and Erie, was incorporated on April 3, 1837, more than a quarter century before rails reached the West Creek valley.
• The Pennsylvania Railroad leased the line on January 1, 1862, and the stretch between Whetham and St. Marys was finished in January 1864.
• After Conrail let the St. Marys to Emporium section go, Hammermill Paper Company bought it in 1985 and ran it as the Allegheny Railroad.
• The trail took 13 years and about 1.3 million dollars to build, funded largely through DCNR, PennDOT, and DCED grants.
• The corridor links two Pennsylvania Wilds landscapes, Elk Country at St. Marys and the Dark Skies landscape at Emporium.

The Sunbury and Erie Railroad was chartered on April 3, 1837, to link the Susquehanna River with Lake Erie, but the money ran out long before the rails reached the West Creek valley. The Pennsylvania Railroad leased the struggling company on January 1, 1862, and finished the job. Crews completed the line between Whetham and St. Marys in January 1864 and closed the last gap between St. Marys and Wilcox that October. The route became the Philadelphia and Erie main line, the Pennsylvania Railroad's road to the lake. After the Penn Central bankruptcy, most of the line passed to Conrail in 1976. Conrail abandoned the St. Marys to Emporium section, and in 1985 Hammermill Paper Company bought it and created the Allegheny Railroad to keep trains running. Genesee and Wyoming took over the operation as the Allegheny and Eastern in 1992. The Allegheny and Eastern abandoned the line between St. Marys and Emporium in 2003. Local citizens organized the West Creek Recreational Trail Association in 2004 to turn the grade into a trail. Thirteen years and about $1.3 million later, funded through DCNR, PennDOT, and DCED grants with help from local foundations and the St. Marys Area Snowmobile Association, the trail opened on August 7, 2017. It now runs nearly 19 miles from downtown Emporium to Rathbun and the north side of St. Marys.

• EmporiumMILE 0Directions
• West Creek Road Trailhead #1MILE 3.1Directions
• West Creek Road Trailhead #2MILE 4.3Directions
• RathbunMILE 12.5Directions
• SwissmontMILE 15.4Directions
• Saint Marys TrailheadMILE 19Directions

• Pennsylvania DCNR · West Creek Recreational Trail
• WJAC-TV · Trail that connects Elk, Cameron counties opens after 13 years
• Pennsylvania Wilds · Hiking the West Creek Recreational Trail
• Wikipedia · Philadelphia and Erie Railroad main line