Cambria County: Trails, Flood History and Industrial Heritage

A rail trail through a creek valley, traces of coal mining, and memorial sites to the 1889 flood give a stay in Cambria County different points of focus. There are also trails in state parks, an urban walking trail, and exhibits on immigration and steel history. When planning your trip, you can start with your main interest: time outdoors, a specific route, or a historical topic.

Trails Between Industrial History and Nature

The Ghost Town Trail is a 54-mile rail trail with a continuous 32-mile loop. It runs through the Blacklick Creek valley, past iron furnaces, old coal-loading bunkers, coal waste piles, and other remnants of industrial history. The landscape includes mountain streams, rhododendron groves, numerous wildflower species, and cool woodland areas. Nature and industrial history meet along the same trail here.

The Path of the Flood Trail offers a different historical perspective. The route connects the damaged South Fork Dam with the Stone Bridge in Johnstown. The 14-mile bike ride passes through the former lakebed and by the remains of the breached dam. Numerous trail markers explain the history of the Johnstown Flood in the Little Conemaugh River valley. The trail lengths given reflect different scales: 54 miles for the Ghost Town Trail and 14 miles for the bike ride on the Path of the Flood.

Laurel Ridge State Park extends across Cambria, Fayette, Somerset, and Westmoreland counties. Its central feature is the 70-mile Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail, which offers opportunities for hiking and backpacking in a semi-wild setting. Prince Gallitzin State Park is in northern Cambria County. There, visitors can fish, boat, camp, hike, and watch wildlife.

Rock Run Recreation Area is geared toward motorized trails: it lies in the rural parts of northern Cambria County and southern Clearfield County. Rock Run ATV Park offers more than 140 miles of trails for various motorized vehicles. By contrast, on the eastern edge of Johnstown, the 3.1-mile Jim Mayer Riverswalk Trail is an urban walking trail along the Stonycreek River, from Hornerstown to the Riverside residential development. Buttermilk Falls is 50 feet high and about 0.7 miles from the Riverside trail access point.

Flood History and Industry in Focus

The Johnstown Flood National Memorial is in South Fork, Cambria County, at the site of the South Fork Dam. Visitors can see the dam ruins there. The Johnstown Flood Museum is dedicated to the 1889 flood and Johnstown's recovery afterward. Together, the two sites offer different ways to connect with the same historical event: the location of the dam and the story of the flood and its aftermath.

The Allegheny Portage Railroad also tells the story of a defining transportation link of the 19th century. It was the first railroad across the Allegheny Mountains and opened a direct connection between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in 1834. The Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site is in Cambria and Blair counties, where the Appalachian Plateaus meet the Ridge and Valley provinces in southwestern Pennsylvania. The site includes more than 15 miles of trails across several park sections.

The Johnstown Inclined Plane was built after the 1889 flood so it could help with evacuation in the event of another flood. It climbs Yoder Hill at a 70.9 percent grade. For another perspective on industrial history, the Iron & Steel Gallery at the Heritage Discovery Center features the exhibit “Forging a Nation: Johnstown Iron & Steel!” The three-story gallery traces the history of the steel industry in Johnstown from the 1700s to the present day.

Exhibits, Local Offerings, and Events

“America: Through Immigrant Eyes” is on the first floor of the Heritage Discovery Center. Interactive media introduce visitors to the sights and sounds of immigrants' everyday lives. The Johnstown Children's Museum is on the center's third floor. In Johnstown, Heritage Johnstown also opens the Ethnic Social Club to the public regularly on the last Friday of each month; music begins at 5:30 p.m. There is a break in the summer, and individual dates may occasionally change. So check event dates in advance.

Duman Lake County Park is the only county-operated recreation park in Cambria County and covers 71 acres. A local food-related offering can be found at Vale Wood Farms: the farm makes ice cream and dairy products on site from the milk of its own cows and offers customizable ice cream samplers. These day-trip and sightseeing options range from longer trails and historic sites to exhibits, a county park, and an agricultural offering.

Discover More Destinations

Discover more destinations: Spring Hill, Carrolltown, Hastings, Northern Cambria, Johnstown, Cresson, Loretto, South Fork, Ebensburg.

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