Valley Girl Views: Buffalo Valley Rail Trail

Our 2012 Trip - 18 miles 2 hours, almost exactly :-)

The Buffalo Valley Rail Trail Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Buffalo-Valley-Rail-Trail/141675384169

We have had this on our to do list since it opened last fall, and Memorial Day ended up being the perfect time for us! We set out without really knowing quite where the path started - but we found it easily, it is well marked, with a great parking area. We started in Lewisburg:

From 45, turn left onto 15th street, and it will be about 2 blocks (I think? Roughly) on your right. Very well marked. (This trail has since expanded, there are now several places in Lewisburg where you can park and catch the trail - including in front of Giant)

There is a nice clean, modern, bathroom at the end of the parking lot as well.

There is a large map right in the parking lot, which is nice!

This is a close up of the parking area in Lewisburg where we started out.

Buffalo Valley Rail Trail

For the safety and enjoyment of all trail users and neighbors, please observe and practice the following trail rules:

Trail open from dawn to dusk
No motorized vehicles or horses permitted
Obey traffic signs at all crossings
Keep to the right - call out when passing
Keep dogs on a short leash and clean up after them
Do not litter - carry in, carry out
Do not disturb or feed wildlife or livestock
Do not cut or remove vegetation or crops
Park only in designated areas
Respect our rail trail neighbors: stay on trail; keep quiet
No alcoholic beverages, camping or fires
No hunting on or from the trail
Be Alert - Be Courteous

The first mile to mile and a half out of Lewisburg is paved, So are the last two miles, in Mifflinburg. Roughly 6 miles in between is a crushed gravel. It is all REALLY nice terrain.

The crushed gravel path. As you can see, this path is very shaded too. The temps were high 80's today, but the path had a nice breeze, and was shaded, making it a very pleasant ride for us tonight.

The scenery along this trail is gorgeous.

Every half mile is a mile marker. That's a really nice touch!

There were several educational, informative, signs along the way. Information on the agriculture, the railroad, the industry, etc.

A lot of the path is tree lined like this.

We headed out about 6pm, with the sun in our eyes, so it was good we had our sunglasses along. It took us 2 hours round trip, which brought us back well before dark - but we needed the sunglasses on the way home to keep the bugs out of our eyes. The bugs were REALLY bad on the way back.

The map shows a parking area and bathrooms in Vicksburg. This would be it. I don't think this area is quite done yet - it's certainly not as nice as the parking and bathrooms at each end. :-)

Piles of railroad ties near the Vicksburg parking area

This parking area is about a mile before the end of the trail - the Mifflinburg Park and Pool are to the right here.

Another nice, clean, modern bathroom at this parking area

a little more industrial through this last mile in Mifflinburg.

A 4th parking area on 10th st in Mifflinburg, at "the end" - or for us, half way. Mile 9. :-)

Turned around, and headed towards Lewisburg from Mifflinburg now:

There are a lot of housing developments at both ends of this trail. Not in the middle, but on both ends, it is VERY residential, with a lot of stops for road crossings as well.

There are a few benches along the way - maybe 3?

There are a lot of convenient places to pull off for snacks and drinks along the way. Sheetz and Weis are right off the path in Mifflinburg, and on down it's a quick side road up to the Purple Cow and Ards for ice cream or lunch. At the Lewisburg end you go right past Vargo outdoors and the other shops right at Brookpark.

Above you can see one of the Agricultural crossings - there are several yield signs like this for tractor and livestock crossings. Below is the Agricultural Area Cautions Sign:

Overall, a great ride. It wasn't too crowded, although we passed a lot of walkers, skateboarders, roller skaters, and even a runner, along with other bikers. At no point did it feel crowded. At one spot there were a lot of unsupervised YOUNG children, which always concerns me, but there are so many houses, the trail is essentially in some backyards. It's possible an adult was watching from a porch somewhere nearby.

I'm sure this is a path we will ride a few more times before the summer is out, it really is a great trail.

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