Western Pennsylvania's steel and coal country is littered with abandoned company towns — 71 of them within 50 miles of Pittsburgh, by one count — and there's now a brilliant way to see them: by bike. The Ghost Town Trail, running through Indiana and Cambria counties east of Pittsburgh, threads together nine of these vanished settlements along a former railroad corridor.
The trail started modestly in 1991 with 12 miles of the old Ebensburg & Black Lick Railroad line donated to Indiana County. It has grown steadily since, and a recent 32-mile Cambria & Indiana Extension loop pushed it to 54 miles — enough to make it the second-longest rail-trail loop in the United States. The accolades were stacking up long before that: it became a National Recreation Trail in 2003 and Pennsylvania's Trail of the Year in 2020.
What makes it special is the layering of nature and industrial archaeology. The highlight is Eliza Furnace near the Vintondale Trailhead, an 1846 hot-blast iron furnace considered one of the best-preserved in the state and one of the few in the country still fitted with its original heat exchanger. Ten miles west, between Dilltown and Heshbon, sits the 30-foot Buena Vista Furnace, which operated from 1848 to 1856 and stands mostly intact. The ghost towns themselves have largely melted back into the woods, but interpretive signs mark where they stood — Wehrum even has an abandoned cemetery, Saints Peter & Paul, about a mile off the trail. The stone Claghorn Bridge, at the meeting of Blacklick and Brush Creeks, is another rare survivor.
The route runs from Saylor Park in Black Lick (roughly 50 miles east of Pittsburgh) eastward through Vintondale, Nanty Glo, and on to Ebensburg. In between it passes eight still-living historic communities, including Ebensburg itself, where 19th-century buildings and three settlers' log cabins survive. If you want more, Johnstown — 15 miles south of Dilltown — has the Wagner-Ritter House, a window into working-class life in the late 1800s.
Practicalities are simple. The trail is open dawn to dusk year-round; spring brings wildflowers and rhododendrons, winter allows cross-country skiing. Expect wildlife — deer, foxes, bobcats, even black bears — plus ravens, hawks, vultures, woodpeckers, and spring-migrating songbirds for the birders. Camping isn't permitted on the trail, so base yourself in Dilltown or Ebensburg, or in Blairsville or the town of Indiana near the western end. Food options sit near the Dilltown and Nanty Glo trailheads.
Who's this for? Anyone who likes their cycling or hiking with a story attached — history buffs, rail-trail collectors, birders, and anyone curious about what happens when an industry that built a region simply disappears. It's an easy add-on to a Pittsburgh trip, and the new loop format means you can ride it without doubling back.