Settler’s Cabin County Park is the third largest park in the Allegheny County Park System. To say it’s close to Pittsburgh is an understatement - It's only 12 miles west of the Burgh. With this proximity to the city you’d think it would be well developed and crawling with mountain bikers.
There seems to be a lot of nostalgia out there about this place - a great place to ride way-back-when. However, somewhere along the line it became forgotten – a mere a found memory for some old school bikers that cut their teeth on the trails there.
Think of the currently blazed trails as three stacked and overlapping loops. Bear-in-mind, that the 5.4 miles includes the overlaps between the loops so there’s actually less than this mileage of actual trail. Never-the-less, this is a great start and as others have mentioned: "Imagine a small
Directions
Google Map directions from Pittsburgh
12 miles/15 minutes
Trail Map
Allegheny County Blazed Trail Map
Suggested Route
The Blazed Trails
The Blue and the Purple loops and most of the Green Loop can be ridden in either direction - although they seem to flow better counter-clockwise. The southern-most section of the Green Loop is definitely better counter-clockwise as riding it clockwise involves a hike-a-bike up a steep section of trail. With just over 5 miles of trails blazed you might as well do them twice. Here's my recommedation:
Park at the playground by the tennis courts and start by going counter-clockwise on the Blue Loop. This loop starts along the playground fence. Ride the whole Blue Loop counter-clockwise - now your back where you started. Start Blue Loop in same place and ride counter-clockwise to the first (northern) Green/Blue Loop intersection. Ride the whole Green Loop counter-clockwise back to the same Blue/Green Loop intersection. Start the Green Loop again counter-clockwise until you come to the first (northern) Purple/Green Loop intersection. Ride the whole Purple Loop twice counter-clockwise – the second time stopping at the southern Purple/Green Loop intersection. Ride the rest of the Green Loop counter-clockwise to the southern Green/Blue Loop intersection. Finish on the Blue Loop counter-clockwise back to your vehicle.
Settler’s Cabin Park Facts:
Park size: 1,589 acres
Distance from City of Pittsburgh: 12 miles
Miles of trials: 22 miles
Minimum elevation: 865 feet
Maximum elevation: 1,265 feet
Elevation difference: 400 feet
PTAG trial steward: No Steward
Trail guide by Simon T
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteWent today with some friends, nice trail and it makes sense to do the trail the way you mentioned, not too technical not too simple just perfect, thanks!
ReplyDelete