September 9, 2026

Community members, state officials, and local leaders recently gathered to celebrate the opening of the Hoodlebug Trail Pedestrian-Bicycle Bridge in Blairsville, Indiana County.

The bridge spans U.S. Route 22, a four-lane highway, near the Route 119 interchange.

Before the bridge, trail users “were literally crossing 22 right through the traffic,” explained R. Michael Keith, chairman of the Indiana County Commissioners.

The new bridge provides safe access over the highway for bikers and pedestrians.

The bridge spotlights western Pennsylvania’s growing long-distance trail network. Its completion connects 135 miles of trails. It links the Ghost Town and Hoodlebug trails with the Blairsville Riverfront and West Penn trails.

The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) has partnered with Indiana County on the Hoodlebug Trail system for more than 30 years. The bridge itself has been more than a decade in the making. DCNR supported a feasibility study, design, and construction through multiple grants.

The Trail Association of the McKean-Elk Divide (TAMED) recently hosted a celebration for the opening of a long-anticipated piece of the Knox & Kane Rail Trail (KKRT) between Kane Borough and Kinzua Bridge State Park in McKean County.

“Closing this trail gap is a significant accomplishment for our area,” said Tom Kase, a local KKRT champion and the President/Founder of TAMED. “This connects the communities of Kane and Mt. Jewett via the KKRT, and it connects the McKean and Elk County region directly to the Skywalk at Kinzua Bridge State Park. This 31-mile section of the KKRT is a beautiful asset for the locals to use regularly, and it’s significant enough to attract rail trail enthusiasts to come visit the Allegheny National Forest region."

The project was funded through an Appalachian Regional Commission grant to the Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC). PEC was part of the design and construction team alongside TAMED; Herbert, Rowland, & Grubic, Inc.; RWF Excavating; and KJ Consulting. There was also generous support for the project from the Collins Companies Foundation.

The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) has supported multiple projects along the KKRT dating back more than a decade. DCNR helped local partners acquire the trail’s 74-mile corridor from the former Knox & Kane Railroad. The agency has also funded trail planning, design, and construction through several grants from a mix of state and federal sources.

An updated Grantee Communications Kit is now available for recipients of Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) grants.

The kit provides tips for spreading the word about your grant, your project, and the impact your work is having on your community.

The revised kit includes:

Special thanks to Julia Clarke, the Bureau of Recreation and Conservation’s 2026 High School Communications Intern, for her hard work editing and designing the updated kit!