Allegheny Highlands Trail of Maryland
Encyclopedia
Rail trail
A rail trail is the conversion of a disused railway easement into a multi-use path, typically for walking, cycling and sometimes horse riding. The characteristics of former tracks—flat, long, frequently running through historical areas—are appealing for various development. The term sometimes also...
from Cumberland to the Mason-Dixon line
Mason-Dixon line
The Mason–Dixon Line was surveyed between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in the resolution of a border dispute between British colonies in Colonial America. It forms a demarcation line among four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and...
, where it meets the Allegheny Highlands Trail of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.
The trail parallels the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad
Western Maryland Scenic Railroad
The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad is a heritage railroad based in Cumberland, Maryland. It operates over ex-Western Maryland Railway trackage to Frostburg, Maryland and back using both steam and diesel locomotives....
which operates tourist trains powered by a steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
.
The trail follows the route of the Connellsville extension of the historic Western Maryland Railroad. The first section of the trail, from Frostburg
FROSTBURG
FROSTBURG was a Connection Machine 5 supercomputer used by the US National Security Agency to perform higher-level mathematical calculations. The CM-5 was built by the Thinking Machines Corporation, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at a cost of US$25 million. The system was installed at NSA in...
to the Mason-Dixon line, was completed in September 2004. The second section of the trail, from Woodmont Hollow to Frostburg, opened on August 24, 2005. The final section, from Woodmont Hollow to Cumberland, opened on December 14, 2006.
This trail is one section of the Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
-to-Washington, DC Great Allegheny Passage
Great Allegheny Passage
The Great Allegheny Passage is a rail trail in Maryland and Pennsylvania. It is the central part of a several-hundred-mile long network of long-distance hiker-biker trails through the Allegheny region of the Appalachian Mountains, connecting Washington, D.C...
.
A planned and funded extension to the trail would take it through Indigo Tunnel
Indigo Tunnel
Indigo Tunnel is an abandoned railroad tunnel in Allegany County, Maryland, located about east of Little Orleans. Built by the Western Maryland Railway in 1904, Indigo was the company's longest tunnel. It was part of a major WM project to extend its rail system from Hagerstown west to Cumberland...
located ten miles southwest of Hancock, MD, within the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park located in the District of Columbia and the states of Maryland and West Virginia. The park was established as a National Monument in 1961 by President Dwight D...
. This abandoned railroad tunnel is one of the largest, still healthy hibernaculum to five species of bats including the Eastern Small-footed Bat listed by the State of Maryland as endangered and the Indiana bat
Indiana bat
The Indiana bat is a medium-sized mouse-eared bat native to North America. It lives primarily in eastern and midwestern states and in parts of the south of the United States. The Indiana bat is gray, black, or chestnut in colour and is 1.2–2 inches and weighs about 1/4 an ounce...
on the federal endangered species list
United States Fish and Wildlife Service list of endangered species
This list contains only the bird and mammal species described as endangered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. It contains species not only in the U.S. and its territories, but also species only found abroad. It does not contain fish, amphibians, reptiles, plants, or invertebrates,...
. An environmental impact study is in the works. White nose syndrome
White nose syndrome
White nose syndrome is a poorly understood disease associated with the deaths of more than a million bats. The condition, named for a distinctive fungal growth around the muzzles and on the wings of many affected animals, was first identified in a cave in Schoharie County, New York, USA, in...
has been killing bats in droves in the Northeast but none has been reported in Indigo Tunnel. The University of Maryland
University of Maryland
When the term "University of Maryland" is used without any qualification, it generally refers to the University of Maryland, College Park.University of Maryland may refer to the following:...
Appalachian Lab in Frostburg traps and tracks bats at Indigo Tunnel as part of the environmental study and White Nose Syndrome surveillance.
See also
- Allegheny TrailAllegheny TrailThe Allegheny Trail is a hiking trail that passes through the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, USA. It is the longest named trail in the state ....
, West Virginia - Allegheny Highlands Trail of Pennsylvania, another rail trail