Wow! What a find!
I did some googling and looking on google maps and found it was this--
https://www.traillink.com/trail/tredway-trail/
2019-06-12 16:08:33
8
New Ken to Braeburn
I'm looking to go from new ken to braeburn. google maps has me on roads the whole way, but it when i do a satellite view it *looks* like there is some sort of unmarked trail along the river there. i have a screenshot attached and i put a red line where it looks like a trail to me. does anyone know if this trail is usable? or is it a private drive?
edit: retrying to add the file.
2019-06-12 15:26:41
yeah...i'm looking to get from etna to freeport and was thinking about hopping over the river for this part. i might drive up and check it out this weekend. looks like tredway trail is there for sure, but i'm wondering about the connection from arnold/new ken along the river up to the tredway.
edit: i mean, on google maps it really looks like a trail is there and no tracks or anything. but i'm not sure what condition its in and if it is private property.
2019-06-13 11:56:54
meh. i just used street view and its looks like the entrances are either fenced off and/or marked as no trespassing. probably not an option.
2019-06-13 12:05:40
I don't know about the railbed from New Ken to Braeburn, but I think it is still a good move to cross the river. If you follow Freeport Road to the Tarentum Bridge and cross it, the back roads down to Braeburn are relatively bike-friendly. Then you can take the Tredway Trail to River Forest Drive, which will take you to the Freeport Bridge.
If you stay on the Tarentum/Natrona Heights side of the river, you will have to deal with much more car traffic and bigger hills.
2019-06-13 12:57:25
I started to bike that old railbed once, between Arnold and Braeburn, and somebody came and threatened to call the police on me until I left. They were quite hostile. The parts of the route I saw suggest that it's a dirt/gravel road. Perfect for a bike trail.
2019-06-14 12:21:58
I'm confused -- what's the difference between the Tredway Trail and that gravel railbed with angry people? I thought they were one in the same...
2019-06-14 15:29:47
Tredway Trail is a rail-trail in Allegheny Township (across the river from Freeport) between River Forest Country Club in the north to the little community of Braeburn in the south. It's easy to bike from Freeport across the route-356 bridge, then follow roads downhill through the golf course to River Forest Drive, and follow that south until you see the trail paralleling the road, on the left. You can easily bike as far south as Braeburn. Between Braeburn and Arnold, the rail bed is a dirt/gravel road, but it's on private land. So to continue south from Braeburn, the main option is Edgecliff Rd.
See popular bike routes at https://www.strava.com/heatmap#12.13/-79.80194/40.63529/hot/all (which has best resolution if you have a Strava login)
2019-06-15 00:48:37