Ghost Town Trail announces trail challenge, continuous loop construction to begin
Friday saw a small crowd gather around the trailhead to hear from Cambria County Commissioner and conservation and recreation board member Tom Chernisky, who made the announcements.
The first announcement regarded the Cambria County Trailhead Challenge, where the county wants residents to visit all 23 tracks in the area. Contestants must send photos of themselves at the trailhead or on the trail to the conservation board's Facebook Messenger, along with name, address, email and phone number to participate.
The contest runs from May 1 to Nov. 2 at midnight, with the winner being decided in the middle of November. They will receive $500 worth of certificates, both evenly split to $250 each, to Vale Wood Farms and Up-N-Running.
'When you're done hiking, biking or walking, locals and out-of-towners have to go to the bathroom. They go to the bathroom. They use the restaurant. They buy something. It's good stuff for a local region,' Chernisky said.
The second announcement was that they awarded a contract to create a loop toward the section of the trail between Nanty Glo and Vintondale. The trail will go around the village of Revloc, past Nanty Glo Park and Pool, before converging back toward the trail.
'We have 200,000 visitors a year just on the Ghost Town trail,' Chernisky added. 'I can see more people coming just to visit. I was here this past Sunday, I saw five people I talked to from Delaware. Four police officers were biking the Ghost Town Trail this past Sunday. There are bikers going to Indiana, and there are bikers coming back. Where did they stay? They stayed in an Airbnb in Hastings.'
Once completed, the Ghost Town Trail will be the first single network trail on the east coast to have a continuous loop and second in the country to create that loop. Only the Blue Mountains Trail in Oregon uses a single network of trails to create a continuous loop.
Chernisky noted that the project is expected to be done by this year.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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