Published: March 10, 2009 11:50 pm      

Twp. wants link with hiking trail

EBENSBURG — The Ghost Town Trail begins and has entrances in Ebensburg.

Now Cambria Township wants an entrance, too.

The hiking and biking path follows the route of the old Cambria and Indiana Railroad, a short line that once connected a string of coal mines and their towns in eastern Cambria and western Indiana counties.

“We should pursue this because it would help with types of funding,” township Supervisor Robert Shook said Monday.

The supervisors agreed to continue talks with the Cambria County Conservation and Recreation Authority about locating a trail entrance in the Mylo Park neighborhood or the village of Revloc.

“We would have to provide parking, and we would share any drawings or designs with Conservation and Recreation,” Shook said.

The trail goes from Ebensburg through Cambria Township and then to Dilltown, Vintondale and Nanty Glo.

Along the way, markers show hikers where small “coal-patch towns” once existed.

The trail also passes huge piles of waste coal and remnants of mining buildings and artifacts.

Hikers also can see Eliza Furnace, where iron was produced before the steel-making boom in Johnstown.

Shook said that in meetings he attended, county officials stated that having a trail entrance in the township could open doors to more types of community development funds and would boost the township’s recreation inventory.

Supervisors agreed they would continue to pursue the idea.