June 7 is National Trails Day®. Use the celebration to your advantage. It’s a great excuse to get outside and use the trails you love. And don’t forget the best part of the day…the reward.
Before, after, or even both, reward yourself with the necessary grub or thirst-quenching beverage your adventure deserves. Some of our borrowers are perfectly located to serve you what you deserve after you hit the best trails around these parts.
Here are five of our favorite hikes and bikes with rewards nearby.
Bike Butler Freeport Trail
The Butler-Freeport Community Trails is about an hour northeast of the City of Pittsburgh. The 21-mile rail-trail on the corridor, open since 1989, is nestled in the scenic wooded valley that follows Little Buffalo Creek to Buffalo Creek and on to the Allegheny River at Freeport. The trail is flat and easy to ride. The trail surface moves from crushed stone to dirt to asphalt.
Reward Derailleur Bike Shop Cafe
Reward yourself at a favorite stop on the Butler-Freeport Trail. The Derailleur Bike Shop Cafe has delicious meals, snacks, and beverages. Our favorite is their Arizona style Tamales, or you can go for the other Mexican specialties. Top it off with their hot or cold coffee drinks. A new special this season is their Lanana, a chocolate banana latte! Also, Leona’s ice cream sandwiches are stocked in the freezer.
Bike Great Allegheny Passage
Starting in Cumberland, Maryland and ending in Downtown Pittsburgh, the Great Allegheny Passage is a spectacular 150-mile nonmotorized path that soars over valleys, snakes around mountains, and skirts alongside the Casselman River, Youghiogheny River, and Monongahela River on a nearly-level, crushed limestone surface. Tracing old footpaths and railroad corridors through the wilderness, it offers glimpses into the country’s westward expansion and industrial might. When paired with connecting C&O Canal Towpath, it makes long-distance trail travel possible between Pittsburgh and Washington, DC.
Reward Bittersweet Cafe
A short drive from the GAP is the Bittersweet Cafe. Their breakfast menu provides the perfect fuel before the start of your ride on the GAP. They focus on fresh ingredients found close to home to create unique dishes with outstanding flavor. Their grass-fed meats, free range chickens and eggs are locally raised, along with their farm fresh produce, some of which grows in their garden. They also serve specialty coffees along with gourmet desserts.
Bike Hazelwood Trail
Lining the Monongahela River, the Hazelwood Green Riverfront Trail is 1.9 mile long, 10-foot wide asphalt trail and is perfect place to run, bike, or walk year-round. The trail connects Hazelwood to surrounding Pittsburgh neighborhoods and their trails, allowing for easy, non-motorized access to the city and its surrounding regions!
What it lacks in length it makes up in its connections on either end, with the GAP on one and the Hazelwood Brew House on the other.
Reward Hazelwood Brew House
You’re not going to grow thirsty on the short 1.9-mile trail through Hazelwood Green, but it’s still a great excuse to take a fine walk and stop at the Hazelwood Brew House for a beer or two from each of the local breweries. With a beer in-hand, walk up to the rooftop and survey the City view and the path you took across the redevelopment site, which is the future of Pittsburgh’s robotics and biomedical industries.
Hike Laurel Highlands Trail
The 70-mile hiking trail stretches along Laurel Mountain from the picturesque Youghiogheny River at Ohiopyle State Park to Conemaugh Gorge near Johnstown. The trail is the main feature of Laurel Ridge State Park. It traverses state parks, state forests, state game lands, other public lands, and private lands. Six trailheads provide 30-car parking lots, overnight parking and trash receptacles.
Reward Getaway Café and The Eastwood Inn
Your hike should be started and stocked at this roadside Café on Route 30 in Ligonier. The Café serves breakfast, lunch, coffee and cocktails. Then after your march across the Laurel Highlands, stop there again and take the dozen stairs up to The Eastwood Inn, which is a classic restaurant with cut-to-order steak and yes, traditional lima beans. Do bring a change of clothes for dinner, this place harkens back to the days of speakeasies and common visits by Arnold Palmer. Play the part and gussy up a little!
Hike Allegheny National Forest
Kane, PA is “Trail Central”. This small town is one of the special destinations within the PA Wilds. Kane provides easy access to numerous forest trails for hiking, biking, cross-county skiing, and snowmobiling. In the center of it all is the Kane Manor Inn, just a 1.5 block walk/ride to the brand-new Knox & Kane rail trail system.
Reward Kane Manor Inn
After your adventure in the PA Wilds, get back to high style civilization at Kane Manor. Their Veranda and Portico are open in the summer months for drinks, and your dusty or muddy trail shoes will be welcome. Their 19th century parlor, and enclosed front porch, and three-season room are open for guests to gather, sit, read, and enjoy year-round, but kindly leave your muddy boots outside.
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