The favorite family bike path this summer was the Allegheny River Trail, traveling both north and south from Kennerdell, PA. We actually did sections of this trail over two days, but this is a great day trip for anyone living in the area or for whoever may just be passing through. The kids especially loved the tunnels which were long enough to require the use of headlamps while traveling through them.
In June of 2020, we rented a house for a couple of nights in Kennerdell, right on the river. This gave us the opportunity to do a little kayaking as well!
For our first day of biking, we headed north. Our starting point was very close to the southern entrance of the Kennerdell Tunnel off of a private road. This tunnel is 3350 feet in length. It was pathed throughout and had reflectors to mark the center. Due to its length and curve at the end, you can not see from one end to the other making the headlamps not only fun but necessary!
For more information on the trails including parking, facilities, and maps, consult the Allegheny Valley Trails Associations website.
We traveled about ten miles on the trail. It was paved the entire way except for a roughly 1-mile section of the shared-use gravel Kent Road. The views of the river from the path were beautiful, here and there were also benches or picnic tables to rest and enjoy it. At one point we stopped to watch a Bald Eagle fishing across the river.
We turned around at the Sandy Creek trailhead junction. There were nice views of the bridge over the Allegheny. This looked like another great path to come back and ride sometime!
The next day we headed south on the Allegheny River Trail. This time our goal was a stop at Freedom Falls and the Rockland Tunnel about 10 miles down the path. We enjoyed more beautiful views of the river.
We parked our bikes at the Rockland Station Road trailhead. The tunnel was in view from here but we took to the road and walked a half-mile up to see Freedom Falls and the Rockland Furnace. We sat and ate our packed lunch in front of the falls. What a fantastic spot! Other than a few people camping up on the hill, we had the whole place to ourselves.
After resting by the falls we explored the ruins of the Rockland Furnace. This furnace was in operation from 1832 until 1854 for the production of iron. It was in pretty good shape considering that it hasn’t been used in 160+ years! It is all that remains of the town of Freedom that once stood here. Interesting to think that this area was once probably treeless and that trees have again overtaken the land. After we were done exploring it was time to travel our second tunnel. The Rockland tunnel is 2868 feet long but still long enough to not see the other end! We traveled through it and back again as we headed back to the house for a relaxing dinner and a family game to end our weekend get away.
