{"id":1011,"date":"2025-10-30T14:19:25","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T14:19:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/robertbkauffman.com\/BoatingSafety\/?page_id=1011"},"modified":"2026-03-09T15:29:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T15:29:05","slug":"a-photo-tour-of-the-great-allegheny-passage-gap-trail","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/robertbkauffman.com\/BoatingSafety\/a-photo-tour-of-the-great-allegheny-passage-gap-trail\/","title":{"rendered":"A Photo Tour of the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) Trail"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The purpose of this site is to provide a photo tour of the GAP trail. It uses as systematic random sample to provide a major portion of the tour. The mile markers every mile provide a convenient sampling method. At each mile marker, a photo looking east and a photo looking west are provided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional Section Components<\/span><\/strong>. Complementing the systematic random sample, is a verbal description of the trail section. Two verbal descriptions are provided. The first is for bikers traveling westward from Cumberland to Pittsburgh and the second description describes traveling eastward from Pittsburgh to Cumberland. For those traveling eastward, start your adventure with the last page and work your way to the first page. The verbal description focuses on the towns and other high points that you will meet on the trail. In addition, it describes some of the high points and unique features on the trail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, the systematic random sample misses some highlights and important features found on the trail. Photos depicting tunnels, bridges, terrain, and other unique features fill in these features on the trail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dividing the Trial into Sections<\/span><\/strong>. Determination of the photo tour sections was influenced by the railroads and watersheds. The GAP trail is created from two railroads, the Western Maryland and the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie (P&LE) railroads. The Western Maryland Railroad connected Baltimore with the P&LE at Connellsville. The P&LE connected the coal fields in Connellsville with Pittsburgh. The railroad transition suggests Connellsville as a logical trail section break. Railroads tended to follow rivers and waterways to their destinations. Except for the Cumberland to Eastern Continental Divide section, these two railroads were no different. At the Eastern Continental Divide, the Western Maryland Railroad followed Flaugherty Creek to its confluence with the Casselman River at Meyersdale. Meyersdale becomes a section break. The trail follows the Casselman River to its confluence with the Youghiogheny River at Confluence, the next section break. From there, the trail follows the Youghiogheny River to McKeesports, another section break. In between Confluence and McKeesport is the previously noted Connellsville section break. From McKeesport, the trail follows the Monongahela River to its confluence with the Allegheny River at Pittsburgh to form the Ohio River.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo Tour Trail Sections:<\/strong>
GAP 0-23: Cumberland to Eastern Continental Divide<\/a>
GAP 23-32: Eastern Continental Divide to Meyersdale <\/a><\/strong>
GAP 32-61: Meyersdale to Confluence<\/strong><\/a>
GAP 61-88: Confluence to Connellsville<\/a>
GAP 88-131: Connellsville to McKeesport<\/a>
GAP 131-148: McKeesport to Pittsburgh<\/a><\/strong>
WMRT 0-27.5: Western Maryland Rail Trail<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viewscapes:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are several way to classify viewscapes. These descriptions are used in describing the different sections of the trail. The top or roof of the trail can be open or closed. Closed means that the roof is covered by vegetation. Open means it is open to the sky. The sides can be open or closed. Closed means the vegetation on the sides of the trail are dense and block your vision into the woods. Open means that dense vegetation is absent and not blocking your vision into the woods. As might be expected, the viewscape can change with the seasons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Open Sides, Closed Top. (GAP 128). <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Closed Sides, Open Top (GAP 20) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Closed Sides, Closed Top (GAP 51). Being enclosed can provide a sense of security. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Open One Side, Open Top (GAP 3). The vegetation on the one side helps to focus your vision toward the open side, in this case, a scenic overlook. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Open Sides, Open Top (GAP 5). Extended lengths of any one viewscape can easily become boring. Brief sections that are open on one side or both sides can become spectacular. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Click Here to Return to rbk Homepage<\/a><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The purpose of this site is to provide a photo tour of the GAP trail. It uses as systematic random sample to provide a major portion of the tour. The mile markers every mile provide a convenient sampling method. At each mile marker, a photo looking east and a photo looking west are provided. Additional […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1011","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertbkauffman.com\/BoatingSafety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertbkauffman.com\/BoatingSafety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertbkauffman.com\/BoatingSafety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertbkauffman.com\/BoatingSafety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertbkauffman.com\/BoatingSafety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1011"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/robertbkauffman.com\/BoatingSafety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1373,"href":"https:\/\/robertbkauffman.com\/BoatingSafety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1011\/revisions\/1373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertbkauffman.com\/BoatingSafety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}