Читать книгу Rail-Trails Pennsylvania. The definitive guide to the state's top multiuse trails онлайн

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5.6

Type

Rail-Trail

Roughness Index

3

Surface

Crushed Stone

The Wilkes-Barre and Harveys Lake Railroad—the rail corridor that is now the Back Mountain Trail—was acquired from lumber magnate Albert Lewis by the Lehigh Valley Railroad in 1887. Lumber, ice, leather goods, and anthracite coal produced in the Endless Mountains and Susquehanna River Basin were transported to urban markets and steel mills well into the 1940s. The corridor fell into disuse in 1963.

Despite sections of the Back Mountain Trail running close to the highway, it evokes a feeling of an escape into nature.

In 1996 the Anthracite Scenic Trails Association, together with Luzerne County, began work to open the corridor to public use; a planned 14-mile route will eventually extend from Riverfront Park on the Susquehanna River in Wilkes-Barre to the town of Harveys Lake. Today this 5.6-mile rail-trail winds through scenic woodlands punctuated by a meandering creek, a lovely waterfall, and expanses of wildflowers. Although sections of the trail run close to the highway, they don’t compromise the feeling of escaping into nature.