FreeWheeling Easy in Western Pennsylvania
		by Mary Shaw and Roy Weil

FreeWheeling Easy in Western Pennsylvania is a guidebook to easy traffic-free bicycling and walking trails in Pennsylvania west of US219 [20K]. Summaries appear on these pages.

Bicycling for the rest of us

If you like to bicycle but you don't like to ride in automobile traffic or on rough, steep, undeveloped trails, this book is for you. You will find trails for short family outings and trails for multi-day touring. If you like to walk on wide smooth gentle paths, you will also find this useful. The book provides information about trails and routes that are

• easy to ride or walk,
• off-limits to automobile traffic
• reasonably level

Depending on their history, these routes are variously called rail-trails, bike paths, greenways, towpaths, and linear parks. Some are paved, some dirt or crushed stone; a few have short excursions onto roads with very little (and very slow) traffic. All are suitable for touring bikes with medium to wide tires and for hybrid or mountain bikes.

Selections from the book

We are pleased to present selected information from the book:

• Trails In and Around Pittsburgh
• Trails East and South: Laurel Highlands
• Trails North: Upper Allegheny Valley
• Trails West: Lake Erie and Eastern Ohio
• Some explanation of the trail descriptions.

In most cases, this includes the first paragraph of the description, the summary information, and the trail organization. We also offer here a full write-up of the Oil Creek State Park Trail, just to whet your appetite.

Ordering information

FreeWheeling Easy is available in many western Pennsylvania bike shops, outdoor stores, and bookstores for $9.95+tax. If you can't find it there, you can order from us: Shaw-Weil Associates, 414 South Craig St. #307, Pittsburgh PA 15213. We have to charge you for tax and postage, so send a check for $11.93. We usually ship in 1 to 5 days. Sorry, we don't do credit cards, but amazon.com books does. You can order it from amazon.com for $9.95 + shipping, but you will pay more for shipping and it will take longer.

Further Information

Other Outdoor books that the authors find interesting.

Bike trails in Western Pa and surrounding areas

• Butler - Freeport Community Trail, about 40 minutes north-east of Pittsburgh
• Ghost Town Trail, about 15 miles north of Johnstown
• Montour Trail, a great crescent around the west and south of Allegheny County.
• Three Rivers Heritage Trail, just across the rivers from downtown Pittsburgh.
• C&O Canal National Historical Park -- the towpath from Cumberland to Washington.
• Steel Heritage Trail, a crucial missing link in the Pittsburgh to Washington, DC connection.
• West Virginia Rails-to-Trails Council, including information on the National Rails to Trails Conservancy.

Web sites from trail and fitness publications

• Health and Fitness Magazine. Pick up the paper edition early each month and check out our column.
• Treasures Along the Trail , a magazine supporting the use, development and support of hike-n-bike trails in western Pennsylvania.
• Dirt Rag, a locally published national magazine for mountain bikers.
• Bike Exchange, an on-line magazine just starting up.

Other local resources

• Pennsylvania Dept of Conservation and Natural Resources. Follow the Rails to Trails link for a quite extensive list of current and potential trails.
• Biking page from Three Rivers Freenet.
• John Greiner's Pittsburgh-area bike pages, an eclectic collection of bicycling information and links
• Western Pennsylvania Wheelmen, organizes regular rides and publishes ride maps.
• Pittsburgh Council, American Youth Hostels has an outing program and sponsors several mass rides.
• West Virginia biking information.

The material on these web pages is copyrighted. We are absolutely delighted for you to link to these pages or print copies for personal use. However, if you want to copy the material for any other use, you must ask us first.

Other outdoor publications by the authors
Updated 1/1/97 by Mary Shaw
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