This beautiful trail is about 90 minutes east of Pittsburgh. Go east on US 22 - 11.6 miles from its intersection with US119; exit northbound on PA 403 and continue 1.4 miles to well marked Dilltown trailhead. There are rest rooms at Dilltown trailhead, a B&B and gift shop, and snacks are available.
Ghost town trail gets its name from the fact that you will ride through 5 "ghost towns" - towns that, when they were thriving, were served by the rail line that now provides the trail bed:
- Amerford and Scott Glen were early mining communities west of Dilltown.
- Wehrum (Lackawanna #4) formerly provided 230 homes, a store, bank and other services for the Lackawanna Coal and Coke Company. The town was abandoned in the 1930's and one house remains. It was located where SR3013 crosses Blacklick Creek; it is all private property now.
- Lackawanna #3 was a short-lived "coal patch" town in the arean known as Edward's Flats between Wehrum and Rexis.
- Blacken was a small community between Vintondale and Twin Rocks operated by the Commercial Coal company.
There is little to be seen of these ghost towns; if you ride the trail in late fall or early spring - and look really hard - you'll be able to see some of the foundations. There are also the remains of some charcoal furnaces.
The most important ruin along the Ghost Town Trail is Eliza Furnace , a National Register Site, 1846-49. It is well preserved and still has its original heat exchange pipes on top, and sits in a well-ended grassy meadow beside the trail, a good stop for picnics.
The trail follows Blacklick Creek for most of its length. Swimming and wading in the creek are not recommended; it is the victim of long-standing acid mine pollution and is considered one of the most polluted streams in Pennsylvania.
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