By Ryan Smith
The dozen or so vehicles parked near the trailheads at any given time, temporarily left behind in favor of hiking or biking methods of travel, are one marker of the Ernst Trail’s popularity.
So are the estimates that put the number of visitors to the five-mile recreational pathway at roughly 60,000 or more each year.
It’s a safe bet, then, that the all-volunteer French Creek Rails to Trails Inc.’s continuing plans to expand the trail will be met with as much enthusiasm from its users as the initial trailblazing was.
On May 12, the group is hosting a public meeting to lay out its plans to extend the trail from its existing terminus at Krider Road to South Watson Run Road. The trail’s design architect, Altoona-based Stephen Parks & Associates, will be on hand to gather comments from the public before completing the final construction plans, according to FCRT President Keith Mink.
As it stands, the plan is to establish an additional two miles of trailway extending to South Watson Run Road, where there will be another trailhead, said Mink. That would bring the trail’s total number of access points up to four; others are currently at Bean’s Auto, Mercer Pike and Krider Road in Vernon and Union townships.
The trail is on the former Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad line from Meadville to Conneaut Lake. The railroad had abandoned the line in 1976.
In 1996, Calvin Ernst, the right-of-way’s owner, donated the property to French Creek Recreational Trails, and the trail — a paved surface that cuts into a miles-long scenic setting — was born.
Its appeal is that “it’s so safe, (and) it’s well maintained,” said Mink. “You don’t have the safety issues” that may be present on some other, more rugged trailways in the region.
FCRT has a $580,000 state grant to help pay for the planned extension, which officials have said could start as soon as this year; long-term plans are to roughly double the length of the trail by extending it further toward Conneaut Lake.
The group has expressed interest in getting involved in the Erie to Pittsburgh Trail Alliance project, a coordinated effort to create connecting trails from Lake Erie to Pittsburgh, but Mink said the EPTA is focusing more on creating a route that generally follows the Allegheny River north into Venango County.
More locally, Envision Linesville Inc. is in the beginning stages of developing plans for the possible establishment of a new trail system along the former Meadville & Linesville Railroad corridor along the northern edge of Pymatuning State Park.
Mink said one of that group’s eventual goals is to connect to the Ernst Trail.
With myriad plans in the works, “we have our hands full,” said Mink, adding more volunteers are always welcome to get involved in planning for the future of Crawford County’s trailways.
Earlier this year, FCRT lost one its founding members and most dedicated volunteers with the death of Tom McNally. Mink has credited McNally as being one of the driving forces behind the initial work to establish the trail in the 1990s.
“What a guy — the energy and the knowledge he had” were critical in developing the trail, said Mink.
He didn’t go into specifics, but Mink said plans are in the works to memorialize McNally in some way with the upcoming trail expansion, which, in some ways, seems to be a continuing testament to McNally’s work.
“His idea was that nothing is impossible,” said Mink. “You’ll always have roadblocks, but nothing is impossible.”
You can go
The public is invited to check out and offer input on French Creek Rails to Trails Inc.’s plans for extending the Ernst Trail at a meeting May 12 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Wesbury United Methodist Community’s Cribbs-Lingo Dining Room, 31 Park Ave., Meadville.
Also, Envision Linesville Inc. is hosting a public meeting May 21 to gather input and ideas on the possible establishment of a new trail system along the former Meadville & Linesville Railroad corridor along the northern edge of Pymatuning State Park.
That meeting is at 7 p.m. at the Linesville High School cafeteria.
Ryan Smith can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at rsmith@meadvilletribune.com.
