VINTONDALE, INDIANA COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ Plus) — State and county officials met today to celebrate the Ghost Town Trail being named Pennsylvania’s Trail of the Year.
“This has been a phenomenal year for outdoor recreation,” said Cindy Dunn, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation of Natural Resources (D.C.N.R.).
While many businesses, restaurants and industries have struggled through the COVID-19 pandemic, one industry that’s seen a huge spike in popularity is outdoor recreation.
‘It’s an essential opportunity for people to get out and take a walk and exercise for health and mental health during the pandemic,” said Dunn. “They bring recreation and tourism and quality of life to communities. People choose to live in these communities because of the great amenities like the Ghost Town Trail.”
Earlier this year, the Ghost Town Trail was named trail of the year by the D.C.N.R.
The 46-mile rail-trail system stretches from Indiana to Cambria County and trail counters placed at numerous trailheads would typically count 80,000 people on the trail each year, but that number is significantly higher this year.
For many, the Ghost Town Trail is a local and regional attraction.
“There’s businesses using it as recruiting tools to say hey come work here because we have these beautiful trails in the area and the local colleges are using it as recruiting tools too to bring kids to the colleges saying hey we have these beautiful trails that you can use whenever you’re here,” said Clifford Kitner, Executive Director of the Cambria County Conservation & Recreation Authority.
In the future, the authority plans on finishing a 5.5-mile extension that would make the Ghost Town Trail the first continuous loop of rail-trail in the Eastern United States.