Pennsylvania
Maryland & Penn.: A Bike Trek on the Great Allegheny Passage
Program No. 22004RJ
Get ready for a fully supported week of bicycling, trail towns and outdoor adventure as you join local experts to cycle the 150-mile Great Allegheny Passage in the Laurel Highlands.
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Itinerary
While we make every effort to ensure the accuracy of our published materials, programs are typically advertised more than a year prior to their start date.
Read More.
While we make every effort to ensure the accuracy of our published materials, programs are typically advertised more than a year prior to their start date. As a result, some program activities, schedules, accommodations, personnel, and other logistics occasionally change due to local conditions or circumstances. Should a major change occur, we will make every effort to alert you. For less significant changes, we will update you during orientation. Thank you for your understanding.
Duration
7 days
6 nights
What's Included
17 meals (
6B, 5L, 6D
)
4 expert-led lectures
10 expert-led field trips
1 hands-on experience
An experienced Group Leader
6 nights of accommodations
Taxes and customary gratuity
Road Scholar Assurance Plan
Day
1
Check-in, Registration, Welcome Dinner, Orientation
Location:
Mount Pleasant, PA
Meals:
D
Stay:
Laurelville Retreat Center
Activity Note
Check-in available from 5:00 p.m. Rooms are not guaranteed to be available before 5:00 p.m.
Afternoon:
Program Registration: 5:00 p.m. Check in at the dining hall lobby to register with program staff, get your room assignment, and confirm the time and location of the Orientation session. Report to your lodging. We will check and load bikes and enjoy light snacks until dinner at 6:00 p.m. If you arrive after 7:00 p.m., please locate your Group Leader and let them know you have arrived. If you arrive before 5:00 p.m., enjoy a walk around Laurelville's beautiful, wooded grounds, see the waterfall behind the office, or relax in the dining hall lobby.
Dinner:
Gather with fellow participants in the Laurelville dining hall to be met by your Group Leader and hosts for dinner.
Evening:
Orientation. The Group Leader will greet everyone and lead introductions. We will review the up-to-date program schedule, discuss roles and responsibilities, logistics, safety guidelines, emergency procedures, and answer questions. All transportation will be by vans to and from the trail each day. Each morning and afternoon, we will bike portions of the Great Allegheny Passage. We ride a maximum of 32 miles each day; the ride segments between meals and breaks may be from 7-19 mile stretches. Riders will have the opportunity to meet up with the support vehicle and staff for lunch and breaks. Program activities, schedules, personnel, and indicated distances or times may change due to local circumstances/conditions. In the event of changes, we will alert you as quickly as possible. Thank you for your understanding. Continue getting to know your fellow participants, settle in, and get a good night’s rest for the day ahead.
Day
2
Bike from Meyersdale to Cumberland, MD on the GAP
Location:
Cumberland, MD
Meals:
B,L,D
Stay:
Fairfield Inn & Suites Cumberland
Activity Note
Getting in/out of a van; driving about 53 miles, approximately 1 hour riding time. Biking about 32 miles throughout the day. Riders will have the opportunity to meet up with the support vehicle and staff for lunch, and afternoon break; snacks and water refills will be provided at these stops. After the first seven miles, this section is called “The Big Coast” and riders need to be mindful to obey the 15 mph speed limit. We’ll cross many small footbridges that can become slick in the rain.
Breakfast:
At Laurelville.
Morning:
We’ll depart from Laurelville in vans for the start of the week’s ride. We will make a stop at the Meyersdale Train Station, which features an impressive railroad museum. The morning ride from Meyersdale to Deal will highlight the curved Keystone Viaduct.
Lunch:
We will enjoy a sack lunch in Deal, PA.
Afternoon:
The afternoon ride from Deal to Cumberland is a downhill delight, featuring the Eastern Continental Divide, the 3,294' Big Savage Tunnel, the Mason-Dixon Line, and the 957' Borden Tunnel. We’ll meet the vans for a break in Frostburg (mile post 15). Our ride will end at mile post 0, where the GAP meets the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Towpath to Washington, D.C. (C&O Canal). Tonight’s hotel is visible from mile marker 0. After checking into our rooms, we will have free time before dinner.
Dinner:
At a local Cumberland, Md., venue.
Evening:
After dinner, we'll enjoy a guided tour of a grand historic home and explore a swath of extraordinary "robber baron homes" as we head back to our hotel on foot. The evening is then free to further explore this walkable downtown or relax in the hotel pool or hot tub. Prepare for biking in the morning.
Day
3
Bike from Meyersdale to Confluence, Educational Presentation
Location:
Mount Pleasant, PA
Meals:
B,L,D
Stay:
Laurelville Retreat Center
Activity Note
Getting in/out of vans; driving about 29 miles, approximately 1 hour driving time. Biking about 31 miles throughout the day. We encounter one larger tunnel and cross several rural roads that require caution. Upgraded trail surfaces may have soft edges.
Breakfast:
At the hotel.
Morning:
We will depart the hotel in vans for the trip to back to Meyersdale where we will begin the second day of riding "downhill both ways." The bike ride from Meyersdale to Rockwood will highlight the 1,908' Salisbury Viaduct which crosses the Casselman River Valley, with great views of a wind farm.
Lunch:
We will enjoy a sack lunch in Rockwood.
Afternoon:
The ride from Rockwood to Confluence will take us through the Pinkerton Tunnel. Our vans will meet us for snacks and water at Fort Hill. The ride will end in the town of Confluence, which has traditionally been called Turkeyfoot because of its three streams coming into one. The Youghiogheny and Casselman Rivers and Laurel Hill Creek look like the track of a turkey when viewed from the surrounding hills. The small broad valley here was the site of ancient Indian villages and a resting place between the mountains. George Washington camped here, and this is also the site of the Yough Dam, a major flood control and recreation project built and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We will stop in Confluence for an educational presentation by a local expert to complement our experience on the trail, before returning to Laurelville.
Dinner:
At Laurelville.
Evening:
After dinner, guests may choose to ride the people-mover (think "fancy wagon ride") for a guided, introductory tour of the expansive grounds; hike (with a guide or solo), or enjoy pickleball, the pool, mini-golf, ga-ga ball, the indoor gym, etc.
Day
4
Bike from Confluence to Connellsville
Location:
Mount Pleasant, PA
Meals:
B,L,D
Stay:
Laurelville Retreat Center
Activity Note
Getting in/out of vans; driving 55 miles, approximately 1 hour riding time to Confluence. Biking about 28 miles throughout the day. We cross several country roads with loose gravel. Upgraded trail surfaces may have soft edges.
Breakfast:
At Laurelville.
Morning:
We’ll depart in the vans from Laurelville for Confluence. The ride from Confluence to Ohiopyle will carry us into the beauty and serenity of Ohiopyle State Park. Much of the morning ride runs parallels the river, providing great views and the opportunity to descend the slope and take a break riverside. This portion of trail also parallels the active CSX railroad across the river.
Lunch:
We’ll enjoy a sack lunch in Ohiopyle, followed by a quick visit to the famous Ohiopyle State Park waterfalls, visitor center, and native pollinator gardens.
Afternoon:
The ride out of Ohiopyle State Park features the high and low bridges over the Youghiogheny River, popular for kayaking and rafting. We'll hit mile post 75 today, marking half of our 150-mile goal! The ride ends in historic Connellsville at Yough River Park. The vans will take us back 15 minutes to Laurelville, where we’ll have time to relax before dinner.
Dinner:
At a favorite locally owned restaurant.
Evening:
The evening will be spent enjoying each other’s company over fine food at the restaurant, so expect a late return back to Laurelville.
Day
5
Duquesne Incline, Bike from Pittsburgh to Buena Vista
Location:
Mount Pleasant, PA
Meals:
B,L,D
Stay:
Laurelville Retreat Center
Activity Note
Getting in/out of a van; driving 46 miles, approximately 1 hour riding time. Biking about 30 miles throughout the day; paved sections, with a few brief share-the-road sections. Riding a few miles in urban downtown Pittsburgh; biking across several high bridges with switchbacks, some root-rutted pavement in the morning.
Breakfast:
At Laurelville.
Morning:
We’ll depart from Laurelville to Pittsburgh (traffic impacts travel time) to begin our urban riding in the heart of the “Steel City.” We’ll first see a spectacular view of the city and learn about Pittsburgh’s history, then ride the Duquesne Incline, a 200-year old commuter cable car. We’ll make ou way to Point State Park. Here the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers form the Ohio River at the iconic “Point” fountain. We’ll then begin our 12-mile journey to Homestead, winding through downtown. This segment of the trail runs alongside the river, offering great urban views, particularly as you cross over the Hot Metal Bridge. It’s crucial to travel together this morning in small pods. Today’s stretch is the final part of the trail to have been constructed and now formally connects the Point in Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C.
Lunch:
Sack lunch in historic Homestead. We'll learn about the historic events that occurred on this site. If the Pumphouse is not hosting a special event, we will have the opportunity to tour it as well.
Afternoon:
After lunch, we’ll bike from Homestead to Buena Vista, which is 18 miles, with two bridges and several "flyover bridges" crossing over active railroads. We’ll bike through McKeesport, which is strategically located where the Youghiogheny and Monongahela Rivers join. The city became a major steel center for most of the 20th century until mill closures impacted the economy in the 1980s. Today, the major industries are telecommunications, pipe-making, and steel fabricating. We’ll stop at Boston for snacks and water, as well as a chance to see their visitor's center, a retired caboose. We’ll end at mile 120 at Buena Vista and return by van to Laurelville.
Dinner:
At Laurelville.
Evening:
We’ll hear an informative presentation by a local expert to complement our experience on the trail.
Day
6
Bike from Buena Vista to Connellsville
Location:
Mount Pleasant, PA
Meals:
B,L,D
Stay:
Laurelville Retreat Center
Activity Note
Optional morning stretching. Getting in/out of a van; driving 35 miles, nearly 1 hour driving time. Biking about 30 miles throughout the day.
Breakfast:
At Laurelville.
Morning:
Optional stretching before breakfast, mats are provided. We’ll depart by van from Laurelville to Buena Vista to begin our final day of riding. Vans will meet us in West Newton at the charming Train Station for a water break. This day takes you back in time to the heart of coal and coke country. Considered “the most important mineral resource in the history of the world,” during the late 1800s and early 1900s, coal fueled the Industrial Age in western Pennsylvania and the U.S. Towns like Adelaide, Whitsett, Van Meter, and Smithdale are examples of the coal patch towns that were built by the coal and coke companies to house their workers. Whitsett, an intact coal patch town, is on the National Register of Historic Places. We'll stop at Sager Mosaics Studio, home of The Ruins Project, "the intersection of art, industrial history, and the GAP bike trail."
Lunch:
Sack lunch in Whitsett.
Afternoon:
After lunch, we'll continue our journey through tree-lined tunnels along the river. Many remnants are visible from these old industrial towns and businesses. George Washington, whiskey making, and modern movie making have all touched this area. These historically significant sectopms that once connected key coal towns to Pittsburgh have been mainly left in the shadows, being overtaken by Mother Nature, including old coke ovens at about mile post 93. We’ll bike through the ornate glass archway and once you’ve reached Yough River Park again in Connellsville, you’ve completed the 150 miles of the Great Allegheny Passage!
Dinner:
At Laurelville. Share favorite experiences and enjoy camaraderie with new Road Scholar friends during our farewell dinner.
Evening:
At leisure. Relax around a campfire outside (weather dependent) or a roaring fire in the Guesthouse fireplace. Share your thoughts about the week's adventures! Prepare for check-out and departure tomorrow.
Day
7
Program Concludes.
Location:
Mount Pleasant, PA
Meals:
B
Activity Note
Check-out by 12:00 Noon.
Breakfast:
At Laurelville.
Morning:
Rise and shine at your leisure today with a scrumptious continental breakfast, you earned it! This concludes our program proper. If you are returning home, safe travels. If you are staying on independently, have a wonderful time. If you are transferring to another Road Scholar program, detailed instructions are included in your Information Packet for that program. We hope you enjoy Road Scholar learning adventures and look forward to having you on rewarding programs in the future. Don’t forget to join our Facebook page and follow us on Instagram. Best wishes for all your journeys! Please complete your program evaluations that will be emailed afterwards.
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