BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

The end of the jail trail still confounds me. I usually follow the other cyclists (there are usually a bunch). Expect to go through a cattle chute.

Hey Noah, I ride into town a couple of times a week, but I work in Oakland. When I leave the job, I ride to North Braddock nightly. I often ride from Forbes to 5th Ave, and there's a right turn off on 5th that runs up the backside of Sq. Hill...or you can stay on Forbes all the way to the end of CMU's parking garage and turn left and stay on the street making a right at the top of the street, and it wilol take you to Negley, Wightman, Murray or Shady.

Mitch

Jail trail. Either take the chute or go over the RR tracks. Follow Saline St to pick up Panther hollow trail on your left. Take trail through soccer fields and you'll be on Boundary St. Take Boundary St cross RR tracks and then make a sharp right to cut up through CMU parking garage. Follow this up, up, up to T. Make a right and then a left at the stop sign and you'll be in front of Phipps. Then it's your call how to get out of Schenley Park. I usually make the left at the curve to climb up through the golf course, and then make a right on Forbes into Sq'ill.

If you're doing it with daylight and don't mind a little off-road gravel or dirt, here's my route suggestion to you:

Take Eliza Furnace Trail to end.

Use caution exiting the trail (underpass/cattle chute)

Follow Junction Hollow Trail, once you pass under the major bridge there, stay roughly straight (or to the right) off onto a gravel path.

Use the gravel path to cautiously cross the train tracks into the lower part of Schenley Park next to Panther Hollow Lake.

Stay roughly right of the lake and follow the trail straight that follows the stream (Lower Panther Hollow Trail)

It's a slow climb, but once you get to the steepest section (towards the end) keep to the left trail.

You should emerge at the traffic light intersection in Schenley near Squirrel Hill.

From there you could take any number of directions, I usually go up Hobart or Beacon, but given your destination, you could even just go to your immediate left out of there up Bartlett.

This route is probably the most even-sloped route from Downtown to Squirrel Hill, but it doesn't favor road bikes or night riding. For night riding to Squirrel Hill I usually stick to the sidewalk for the climb up the Blvd. of the Allies/Panther Hollow Road. In the daytime however, the Schenley Park trails make some great gentle-sloped biking routes.

Here's my route mapped on Google Maps: http://www.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=3403+Parkview+Ave,+Pittsburgh,+Allegheny,+Pennsylvania+15213&msa=0&msid=113038755676662691776.000489bde41c5c66d9b87&ll=40.434862,-79.941673&spn=0.027177,0.065317&t=h&z=14

This particular route is the gentlest sloping route between the two points I could think of while not being too circuitous. If you're more like what's the shortest distance A to B, hills be damned, you could consider a different route, maybe off the trail to Bates to Blvd. of the Allies or something.

LOL, alternatively if you use the CMU garage route, you could use the elevator to go up a few floors.

EDIT: Strike that, I thought the route described would be going up the CMU garage and then just going along Forbes all the way to Murray.

my personal preference would be to go up and across the swinburne bridge. from there, it's a very shallow uphill, then you can go through the museums in oakland, then up the golf course from cmu, et voila! you're in squirrel hill!

@Impala, Bartlett is a one-way going the wrong way, but you can go up Serpentine to Darlington, and take Darlington all the way to Murray.

Thanks folks. Depending on mood, I will either go for the CMU parking lot route or the Panther Hollow Lake. I was thinking the elevator option in the lot would be kind of cool. But will probably opt for the off road option, How can I resist a trail ride

The paths next to the lake are a GREAT trail ride, too.

The Panther Hollow path is a mess due to erosion and wash; skinny tires won't do so good.

Try: Jail Trail -> Junction Trail -> Joncaire (or Yarrow Way, if you can) -> Clemente -> Schenley -> Forbes (Darlington for less traffic), to Murray.