CUMBERLAND -- Supporters of a 20-mile biking and hiking trail in western Allegany County are seeking state, federal and county money to finance the first phase of the $1.4 million project -- part of a much larger trail system that will link Pittsburgh and Washington.
The Maryland section of the Allegheny Highlands Trail is the missing link in the 300-mile corridor of existing and planned trails.
The section would link Pennsylvania greenways with the towpath of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, a 185-mile national park that runs along the Maryland side of the Potomac River from Georgetown in Washington to Cumberland.
"This could be the backbone of a really nice trail system," said Ben Sansom, Allegany County's planning director. "What makes it interesting is that it's not a trail out there all by itself. It's a trail connecting two other trail systems."
Maryland and Pennsylvania officials regard the Allegheny Highlands Trail as an economic attraction. The trail will connect to the popular Youghiogheny River Trail in Ohiopyle, Pa., a popular whitewater rafting area about 30 minutes north of the Maryland line. That trail draws about 150,000 hikers and bikers each year and also is popular with cross country skiers.
The Allegheny Highlands Trail is one of several tourism projects being developed in or near Cumberland. Others are the $200 million Canal Place, which will refurbish the downtown train station and restore a portion of the C&O; Canal, and a multimillion-dollar conference center and golf course at Rocky Gap State Park, east of Cumberland.
In sum, the Allegheny Highlands Trail encompasses about 60 miles of mostly abandoned Western Maryland Railway lines in southern Pennsylvania and Maryland. About 14 miles of the 40-mile Pennsylvania section -- from Garrett to Markleton -- are complete. The remainder is expected to be finished by 1999, said Hank Parke, president of the Somerset County Rails-To-Trails Association, which is overseeing the $5 million project.
Allegany County officials are seeking about $270,000 in state, federal and county money to complete the first 5 miles of the trail from the Mason-Dixon Line to Frostburg. The rail line there has been abandoned and is privately owned. State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officials are negotiating with the owner to lease the right of way.
The remainder of the trail -- which likely would consist of a surface of fine, crushed limestone -- would follow the Western Maryland Railway line from Frostburg to Cumberland. The trail would share the right of way with the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, a tourist excursion line that runs most days from May through November.
"This is a key link in a major greenway from Washington, D.C., to Pittsburgh and beyond," Mr. Parke said. "That's what is really important about these trails. Railroads took people from one destination to another. So there's no reason you couldn't get on a trail here someday and go all the way to Seattle or Santa Fe."
Mark Spencer, regional chief of greenways and resource planning with DNR, said state officials are working with the nonprofit group that runs the excursion and the state transportation department, which bought the right of way earlier this year to bolster the struggling railroad, to determine whether the trail can be accommodated safely.
He said an alternate route would be chosen if the railroad right of way there proves impractical. The entire trail -- with a loop trail to HTC Mount Savage -- is expected to be completed within two to three years.
The Allegheny Highlands Trail is one of two rail-to-trail projects moving toward construction in Western Maryland. Work on a 20-mile trail from Fort Frederick State Park to Sideling Hill in western Washington County will begin this summer, Mr. Spencer said.
The trails are part of a series either completed or being developed across Maryland. Others include the Monocacy River trail in Frederick County, the Northern Central Railroad Trail in northern Baltimore County and the Gwynn Falls Greenway.
Unlike most other rail-to-trail projects in Maryland, the Allegheny Highlands Trail will be maintained by private, nonprofit groups under the supervision of a local trail commission. The setup is similar to maintenance of the well-known Appalachian Trail.
Dick Heavner, a Cumberland businessman and a member of the trail commission in Allegany County, said the Maryland section of the greenway will be the most scenic. Like the excursion train's route, the trail would pass through the Cumberland Narrows, a mile-long natural gap in the mountains that became the nation's gateway to the West.
"This is one of the more aesthetically pleasing areas of the trail," Mr. Heavner said.