Great Allegheny Passage (Somerset County)

The 50-mile long Somerset County portion of the Great Allegheny Passage trail offers fantastic vistas to hikers and bicyclists along the former Western Maryland Railway right-of-way from Confluence to the Mt. Savage Tunnel and Mason-Dixon Line.

Most impressive is the 1900-foot long Salisbury Viaduct built in 1911 over the Casselman River and the former B&O Railroad. It was so named for its proximity to the Salisbury Junction of the B&O. The structure was opened in 1999 to bicyclists, following the addition of a concrete deck where rails once carried steam engines. It is located about two miles north of Meyersdale along old Route 219, and also carries the trail over the new four-lane Route 219.

The "jewel" of the Great Allegheny Passage in Somerset County is the 1911 Western Maryland Station, a historic preservation project of the Meyersdale Area Historical Society. Located on Main Street, the station is open on weekends in the summer months, manned by society volunteers. It has a gift shop and comfort station. Model railroad shows are held periodically in the freight room. Visitors from all over the world have found it, as they journey from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., using the local trail as part of the Great Allegheny Passage trail system and the C&O Canal Towpath.

The station became Meyersdale's second, after the establishment of a passenger station on Meyers Avenue by the B&O. The town council required builders of the Western Maryland to provide a passenger and freight station of which the town could be proud, as a trade for permission to make a second railroad cut through the community. Read the ordinance to that effect.

Traveling west from the station, trail users first encounter the Salisbury Viaduct, above, followed by the Green Mountain Wind Farm, (at right), eight windmills stretching 200 feet into the air to capture the power of wind for conversion to electricity.

About four miles from the station, trail users go through the historic coal town of Garrett, where refreshment can be found downtown. Springtime rafters and canoeists encountering whitewater rapids on the Casselman River between Garrett and Rockwood make their river ride between the trail and the CSX mainline. The trail runs about 7.5 miles between the two towns. This segment is also becoming popular as an outdoor classroom for young geologists, studying the Mt. Davis bedrock that is exposed beside the trail.

From Rockwood it is another seven miles to the village of Markleton, followed by a trip around the Pinkerton Tunnel, flanked on either side by refurbished trestles crossing the Casselman. The seven-mile segment from Markleton to Fort Hill promises excellent scenery, followed by a six-mile trek from Fort Hill to Confluence, where the Somerset County portion of the Great Allegheny Passage ends. Three rivers come together there to provide outstanding fishing and seasonal whitewater activities. At the border with Fayette County, trail users can then pick up the Youghiogheny River Trail, also part of the Great Allegheny Passage, which is completed to McKeesport, just outside of Pittsburgh.

To the east of Meyersdale, trail users are able to cross the historic Keystone Viaduct over the Flaugherty River and Glade City Road and then continue through Sand Patch and the Village of Deal to the impressive 3,300-foot long Big Savage Tunnel. The tunnel was cut through the Big Savage Mountain in 1910-12 to make way for the Western Maryland. The $12 million reconstruction project was completed by contractor Advanced Construction Techniques of Maple, Ontario. The view on the east side of the tunnel is second to none, overlooking the Cumberland Valley. The elevation at the highest point on the trail is located just west of the tunnel at the McKenzie Hollow Road and is estimated to be 2,490 feet above sea level. On the east side of the tunnel, a connection with the C&O Canal Towpath has been made by the Allegheny Highlands Trail of Maryland.

Development of the Somerset County portion of the Great Allegheny Passage was a project of the Somerset County Rails-to-Trails Association, a member of the Allegheny Trail Alliance. The alliance is comprised of seven trail groups united to build the 204-mile network now known as The Great Allegheny Passage from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Cumberland, Maryland. With the connection in place to the C&O Canal Towpath National Historical Park, trail users can now venture from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., taking advantage of a unique and outstanding recreational opportunity that also serves as a celebration of Western Pennsylvania's railroad and industrial heritage.

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(Photos© Sally Jones, 2000-2010)

This page last updated March 13, 2010.