There's an abandoned superhighway in Pennsylvania, hidden in a forest between Bedford and Fulton counties. Today, cyclists and walkers explore the roughly 13-mile Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike, a ghost road with a sense of freedom. Are you brave enough to ride it?
It makes no sense when you first see it. What is an abandoned stretch of highway doing in the woods? As you push off, the pavement begins to erode and the surrounding foliage creeps closer to the asphalt. Roots and cycles of freezing and thawing have upended the road's surface. Yet beneath you sits a four-lane superhighway. Why?
Those 13 miles span several chapters of Pennsylvania transportation history. The stretch began as part of a Native American footpath through the Alleghenies. In the 1800s, William Vanderbilt recognized this path as the location for a promising railroad route. He began developing the land for the tracks.
The project, sometimes referred to as Vanderbilt's Folly, carved the South Pennsylvania Railroad through the Allegheny Mountains. However, construction stopped amid financial and railroad-industry conflict. Miles of forest had been graded and leveled. Tunnels had been blasted through hills. And just like that, work ceased.
Decades later, the newly formed Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission saw new potential in the unfinished railroad corridor. Workers incorporated several of its tunnels into America’s first superhighway, which opened on October 1, 1940. Motorists could cross the mountains without traffic lights or intersections, cutting travel time across southern Pennsylvania.
The highway proved more popular than its tunnels could handle. Four lanes narrowed to two inside the tunnels, creating bottlenecks that sometimes stretched for miles. The Turnpike Commission eventually built a bypass around the Sideling Hill and Rays Hill tunnels, leaving the old section behind in 1968. Suddenly, a silent ghost road emerged.
This road not taken has transformed into a haven for cyclists looking for a captivating adventure through Pennsylvania’s history. Riders pass deteriorating pavement before entering the unlit Rays Hill and Sideling Hill tunnels. Beyond the concrete, the surrounding forest shows how quickly nature begins reclaiming a place once people move on.
Begin your trip at the Sideling Hill Trailhead, located off Pump Station Road in Fulton County. The corridor includes rough pavement and long, unlit tunnels, so bring reliable lights and equipment suited to changing conditions. Check current access and trail conditions before leaving, then prepare for a ride unlike any other in Pennsylvania.
Ready to keep rolling? Explore more biking trails across Pennsylvania and find out where your next ride leads.