Ghost Town Trail

Black Lick to Ebensburg

Distance: 36 miles

Surface: Hard-packed limestone dust

Designated Access Areas

• Saylor Park - Black Lick, PA
• Heshbon
• Dilltown
• Wehrum
• Rexis
• Twin Rocks
• Nanty Glo
• Ebensburg

Trail Highlights

The Ghost Town Trail totals 36 miles in Indiana and Cambria Counties, Pennsylvania. The trail was established in 1991 when the Kovalchick Salvage Company donated 16 miles of the former Ebensburg & Blacklick Railroad. In 1993 the Cambria & Indiana Railroad donated an additional 4 miles from Rexis to White Mill Station known as the Rexis Branch.

In 2005 an additional 20 miles were added to the trail - 12 miles in Indiana County and 8 miles in Cambria County. The U.S. Department of the Interior has designated the trail as a National Recreation Trail. The trail is open year-round for hiking, bicycling, and cross-country skiing.

Note: A one-mile 'missing link' in the trail is located just west of Dilltown. Two large bridges are missing and efforts are underway to secure funding to complete this link. There is no suitable bypass route around this missing link. From Black Lick (Saylor Park) to the bridge location is 12 miles. From Dilltown to Ebensburg is 20 miles.

The Ghost Town Trail derives its name from numerous mining towns that once existed along the railroad corridor. Wehrum, the largest of theformer towns, once had 230 houses, a hotel, company store, jail and bank. Warren Delano, uncle of President Franklin Roosevelt, developed the town. Other ghost towns include Bracken, Armerford, Lackawanna #3, Scott Glenn, Webster, Beula, and Claghorn.

The Eliza Furnace, on the National Register of Historic Places, is one of Pennsylvania's best preserved iron furnaces. The furnace operated from 1846 to 1849 and is a unique relic of the Blacklick Valley's early era. The Buena Vista Furnace, near the trail crossing at PA Route 56, is also located along the trail. Historical markers throughout the trail provide interpretive information about Blacklick Valley's intriguing history.

Source: Indiana County Parks & Trails