One of Pennsylvania’s newest trails is in a turnpike rest stop
Sideling Hill Plaza on the Pennsylvania Turnpike now offers access to trails for cyclists and hikers.
Plenty of people rest their eyes, stretch their legs, and walk their dogs at the Sideling Hill Plaza on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
The rest stop, located at mile marker 172.3 in Waterford, sits both eastbound and westbound around the halfway mark on the perpetually busy road. There are some mountains to look at outside, and there’s a Popeyes chicken and a Hershey’s Ice Cream inside.
Now, thanks to a unique joint effort by several state agencies, including the Turnpike Commission and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Sideling Hill also offers something for cyclists and hikers.
About 100 officials, students, cyclists, and hikers gathered in the back of the parking lot there Saturday morning for the unveiling of the Sideling Hill Trailhead.
“It allows everyone who travels the turnpike to take advantage of this trailhead, whether they’re eastbound or westbound, and it allows the people who use the trail from the community access to the restrooms and the amenities at the service plaza,” said Michael Carroll, chair of the Turnpike Commission.
The Sideling Hill Trailhead, located in rural Fulton County, offers access to 600 miles of recreational trails, including the Old Pennsylvania Pike Trail, Buchanan State Forest, and Bicycle PA Route S, according to the commission.
DCNR Secretary Cindy Dunn said the trailhead, like other outdoor recreation areas in the Commonwealth, could serve as an economic driver for local businesses, alongside the actual rest stop. A newly constructed concrete pathway, with walls, encourages hikers and cyclists to visit the actual rest stop, too.
Outdoor tourism, Dunn said, generates $19 billion for the state.
“We are positioned well in the United States to be a getaway,” Dunn told the crowd. “Not every state around us has these beautiful mountains, so we’re positioned to attract and bring people in.”
After the news conference, numerous cyclists embarked from the trailhead. Several hours later, Tony Barr, a volunteer with the Keysyone Trails Association, led a short hike, about 5.6 paved miles, to the unique Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike, a section of the toll road that closed in 1968, leaving behind tunnels you can journey down today.
Dozens of cyclists were using the trail, some of them with headlamps to travel deep into the tunnels. The abandoned turnpike was used as a location for the 2009 film The Road with Viggo Mortensen.