Steel Valley Trail Council

06/05/2026

It really is exciting news...

06/01/2026

Graffiti Tagger Caught in the Act

One of our volunteers caught this old jerk writing “ITCH” on a barrel by the big slide below Kennywood. He has also tagged the Whitaker Flyover and other places in the Southside. If anyone knows his name please post it in the comments or call the SVTC phone number 724 405-7882 and leave a message. We want to file a police report - it would help if we knew his name and his address.

05/13/2026

Steel Valley Trail Appreciation Day Ride

The Steel Valley Trail Council volunteers were out working on the trail on Tuesday in preparation for the Trail Appreciation Day ride on Saturday, May 16. We patched two potholes with cold patch.

One of our goals last year and this year is to provide a smoother ride. Last year we repaved a .9 mile section of root damaged trail in the Duquesne RIDC just before the Riverton Bridge. We also repaved a section of rippled trail surface in the McKeesport RIDC at the bottom of the Riverton Bridge ramp. And just this month we eliminated the sinkhole in West Mifflin on the downhill approach to the Whitaker Flyover.

Join us at 10:45 between the Hampton Inn and the new under construction apartment building for an 11:00 Trail Appreciation Day ride. Ride to our headquarters just past Kennywood for a light lunch or bike to the McKeesport RIDC roundhouse to talk with a former steel mill worker. From there you can ride back to our maintenance building for a light lunch.

From the start of the ride to our headquarters and back is about an 8 mile ride. A ride to the roundhouse and back is about 14 miles.

Park at the Ladle Car trail head between the Stormy Crab and Citizens Bank.

See you on Saturday.

05/06/2026

TRAIL APPRECIATION DAY
SATURDAY, MAY 16

The Steel Valley Trail Council is hosting a Trail Appreciation Ride on Saturday, May 16. The ride will start at the end of the new apartment building next to the Hampton Inn. The ride will end at the Roundhouse in the McKeesport RIDC. A former steel mill worker will be there to talk about his experiences working summers in both the Duquesne Steel Mill and the McKeesport National Tube Works.

You can then ride back to the Steel Valley Trail Council’s maintenance building for lunch. For a shorter ride you can stop at the maintenance building skipping the longer ride to the Roundhouse.

Parking will be at the GAP Trailhead in between the Storming Crab and Citizens Bank. Arrive at the apartment building 10:45 for a brief recap of the points of interest along the ride. There have been a lot of significant trail improvements last year and into this year.

More details to come.

National Trail Appreciation Day was the weekend of the NFL Draft. We thought that might not be a good day for our ride!

05/03/2026

04/24/2026

04/24/2026

The Sinkhole is No More

On Thursday Folino Construction milled and paved about 100 feet of trail eliminating the sinkhole on the trail just above the Whitaker Flyover. We hope you enjoy riding on this new smooth section of trail.

If you appreciate the improvements we are making to the trail please consider becoming a Steel Valley Trail Council member. Go to:

steelvalleytrail.org

Thank you!

04/22/2026

Trail Paving - Sinkhole Repair

A very short section of the GAP Trail will be re paved on Thursday, April 23. This section of trail which is above the approach to the Whitaker Flyover contains a sinkhole referred to as the Dip. This is between GAP miles 137 and 138.

There will be a detour in the grass beside the trail. If you are a local rider you might want to avoid this section of trail on Thursday. There will be large work vehicles traveling on this section of trail. If you are a through rider say Hello to our volunteer flaggers who will be on site directing trail users to walk their bikes around the work area.

Another trail improvement brought to you by the Steel Valley Trail Council and the Regional Trail Corporation.

04/16/2026

WATER FOUNTAIN DAY

April 15 is known nationally as Income Tax Day but on the Steel Valley Trail it is also known as Water Day! The water fountain across from our gazebo is back for another biking season! That is just below Kennywood’s Steel Curtain at GAP Mile 136.5.

A big Thank You to Kennywood Park as they supply the water at no charge. Enjoy a drink of water the next time you are on our trail!

03/26/2026

TRAIL VOLUNTEER DAY

Our trail work parties are on Wednesday mornings from 8:30 to about noon or 1:00. Lunch follows at Red Robin or Paneras.

Today five volunteers sealed about 50 cracks in the Keystone and Sandcastle Chutes. This requires scraping out the dirt that has accumulated including some weeds and mosses. We press cold patch in the wider cracks. Then we apply melted tar with our Hot Box 10.

Three other volunteers removed honeysuckle bushes below Kennywood that were growing too close to the trail.

If you are available on Wednesday mornings and want to do some trail work just say so in the comments.