Bring your bikes, your appetite, and your friends to this special Celebrate Trails Day event–a social ride from Hutchinson Park to Mom Maruca’s Pizza in South Union Township, PA.
Get ready to light up the night and experience the magic of our Glow Ride event! Join us for an enchanting evening ride under the stars on the picturesque Sheepskin Trail.
** Glow Ride Highlights:**
- **Bike Decorating Contest**: No glow sticks, no problem! We've got glow sticks for you to decorate your bikes and win fantastic prizes.
- **Two Exciting Routes**: Choose your adventure! The Green Route (approx. 2 miles) for a quick ride, or the Orange Route (approx. 9.4 miles) for a longer journey.
- **Volunteer Opportunities**: Be part of the action by volunteering for event setup, registration, bike decoration, or tear-down. Contact Eric at eric@nationalroadpa.org to RSVP or for more info.
- **Community Fun**: Connect with fellow riders and enjoy a night filled with laughter, music, and good company.
** What to Bring:**
- Your bike
- Glow sticks for decorating (limited supply available)
- Headlight for a safe ride
- Friends and family for a memorable night out!
Don't miss out on this illuminating adventure! Mark your calendar, invite your friends, and let's make this Glow Ride an unforgettable experience for our community. Children must be accompanied by parent or guardian. See you at Point Marion Park on September 16th at 6:00 PM!
** Spread the Word:**
Use #GlowRidePointMarion to share your excitement and connect with fellow riders.
Let's light up the night together! #GlowRide2023 #CommunityFun
Join us for a Cleanup Walk on the Dunbar Section of the Sheepskin Trail! Saturday, June 24th, from 10AM-2PM rain or shine.
The Friends of the Sheepskin Trail, with our organizational partner The National Road Heritage Corridor (www.nationalroadpa.org), will be participating in 2022’s Fayette Gives (www.fayettegives.org). Fayette Gives is an annual “day of giving” hosted by the Community Foundation of Fayette County (www.cffayettepa.org).
For this Fayette Gives day, we are asking for donations to support the development, promotion, and maintenance efforts for the Sheepskin Trail, a 34-mile “rail-trail” and “rail-with-trail” system currently under development that will connect people and communities from Dunbar Township to Point Marion Borough. When completed, the Sheepskin Trail will link the Great Allegheny Passage to West Virginia’s Mon River Rail-Trail System, bringing economic, health, lifestyle, and tourism benefits to communities throughout Fayette County.
What will donations be used for?
The Friends of the Sheepskin Trail aim to advocate and promote the trail project through community and government outreach as well as provide amenities to the trail and surrounding communities that encourage its use and help build a “sense of place”. Any donations received in this and future fundraising efforts will be used to purchase or facilitate the following types of efforts:
- Branding and marketing
- Customized (i.e., branded) bike racks
- Wayfinding, trail markers, other signage
- Brochures and banners for use at public outreach events
- Trailside art
- Community connections and trail access
Instructions:
Fayette Gives will take place on Thursday, November 10, 2022, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. You can find a list of participating charities and organizations as well as instructions for how to give at www.fayettegives.org.
Please remember that any donations that you would like to give to the Friends of the Sheepskin Trail will be through our organizational partner, the National Road Heritage Corridor.
Also, please consider giving to any number of the other charities and organizations listed so they can also continue and expand their missions and scopes of work throughout our community.
Thank you!
Fayette County is holding a ribbon cutting event for the newest section of the Sheepskin Trail, along Nilan Road, just north of Point Marion in Springhill Township.
Local officials and trail organization leaders welcome all trail enthusiasts to celebrate the completion of this new section of the Sheepskin Trail on October 12, 2022 at 11:00 AM.
Please see the the image or the text below for more details about how to attend this event.
Please note that the location pin on this event's map is for Point Marion Park, from which a shuttle will transport visitors to the new trailhead.
Text from invitation:
Please park at Point Marion Park, 800 South Main Street, Point Marion, PA 15474. A FACT bus will shuttle you to and from the trailhead in Springhill Township.
Saturday, April 23, 2022 is the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's Celebrate Trails Day. To celebrate, join us for a meeting of the Friends of the Sheepskin Trail at Mom Maruca's in Uniontown.
It's been a long time since we've met and there's a lot to be excited about with the Sheepskin Trail!
After some updates about progress along different trail sections, we hope to have a great discussion about future plans for the group.
See you there!
Come join other Sheepskin supporters and active citizens on a walk organized by Get Moving Fayette. The walk will begin at 6:30pm at the covered bridge in Hutchinson Park in South Union Township.
South Union Township officials will walk us through the Township’s portion of the Sheepskin Trail and talk about the growth of recreation in South Union. The walk will begin and end at the covered bridge in Hutchison Park. Bicycle rentals are available.
Learn more about the South Union section of the Sheepskin Trail here.
Check out the Facebook event for more details.
Celebrate Trails Day (formerly Opening Day for Trails) is an annual celebration of rail trails organized by the Rails to Trails Conservancy to be held on the third Saturday in April (April 24th, 2021).
The Friends of the Sheepskin Trail would like to provide ideas below for how you, your family, and friends can celebrate the Sheepskin Trail or trails in general.
Celebrate Trails Day activity ideas:
Visit one or more sections of the Sheepskin Trail
Check out this link for a map showing the locations of the following completed sections:
WV-to-Point Marion
South Union Township
Dunbar-to-the-GAP
Each section is about 2 miles long and in the cases of the Point Marion and Dunbar sections, connect to larger trail networks (Mon River Trails and the Great Allegheny Passage, respectively).
Enjoy your favorite section, or better yet, try out a section that you haven’t been to in a while or that you never been to at all.
Bring a new trail user to the Sheepskin
Share your love of the Sheepskin with family and friends, especially if they’re first-timers!
Take pictures and share your trail stories
On social media, use the following hashtags and tags:
#SheepskinTrail
@TheSheepskinTrail on Facebook
#CelebrateTrails
#TrailMoments
@railstotrails on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
Have a picnic
Pack a meal and enjoy it somewhere along your favorite trail. Please be sure to pack out and properly dispose of any trash/recyclables.
Celebrate a new park with an artistic vibe
On April 24th at 1PM, the dedication of the new Sheepskin Trail Picnic Park will take place along the South Union Township section between the Township Drive and Redstone Furnace Rd.
South Union Township will be dedicating its “Picnic Park” on Celebrate Trails Day. This park is between Township Drive and Redstone Furnace Road.
Along with several creekside picnic tables, the dedication will include the celebration of a custom bike-themed stained glass art installation
Volunteer
Uniontown is having a city-wide spring clean up event in conjunction with the Fayette County hard-to-recycle event on April 24th. Uniontown is moving forward with their section of the Sheepskin Trail; consider helping with the clean up in support of the city and its efforts.
Volunteers are welcome and are meeting at the intersection of Maple Street & Gallatin Avenue at 8:30 AM. For more information, please call (724) 430-2900.
Geocaching
Find our more here: https://www.geocaching.com/
Play PokemonGo
April 24th is “Friendship Day” from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM
Spin some stops, fill that Pokédex, get those kilometers in, and battle in gyms along and near the Sheepskin Trail.
Go birdwatching/wildlife watching
Look for and identify wildflowers and other plants along the trail
Patronize and support local businesses along and near the trail
Bonus points if you walk or bike there!
Take action!
Want to see more segments of the Sheepskin Trail completed? See the ways that you can take action here: Take action!
Trail projects move faster with engaged volunteer bases; discover a way that you can help.
If you see any local officials (present, past, or future) out and about on Celebrate Trails Day, let them know you appreciate any work they have done towards making the trail happen.
Please join the Friends of the Sheepskin Trail for our October 2019 meeting!
Please join the Friends of the Sheepskin Trail for our March 2019 Meeting!
Below is a press release from the National Road Heritage Corridor:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, 18 September, 2018, Uniontown, PA – The Fayette County Commissioners, along with legislators and local municipal officials and the National Road Heritage Corridor will be hosting an opening ceremony on Sunday, September 23, 2018 at the Sheepskin Trailhead located on South Main Street, Point Marion across from the Borough Park and field house.
The event will be from 1:00 to 3:00p.m., beginning with the official ribbon cutting followed by a community picnic hosted by the County, The National Road Heritage Corridor, Point Marion Borough and Recreation Authority in partnership with the Point Marion Rotary, Representative Matthew Dowling and Senator Pat Stefano.
Post ribbon cutting, there will be children’s creative activities hosted by staff from the Phoenix Arts Center in Uniotnown.
Adventure WV will be bringing a fleet of 10 hybrid style bicycles along with safety equipment free to event attendees who would like to take a ride on the newly opened Sheepskin Trail.
Morgantown Bike Board & Chip Wamsley will conduct a bike rodeo for kids right on the trail. The children will learn about trail riding and trail etiquette. So make sure you load your kids bikes into the car before you head for the ribbon cutting.
For more information, contact the National Road Heritage Corridor - 724-437-9877.
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Greetings fellow trail enthusiasts!
It's been a while since we gathered together and talked about the trail and plans for more. Things are moving on the trail and we are making great progress on advancing design and construction projects!
We hope you can attend the upcoming meeting - Thursday, August 30th from 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. at the Fayette Chamber of Commerce - 65 West Main Street, Uniontown.
There will be pizza - so please RSVP by calling 724-437-9877, so we can plan accordingly!
Let's build the Sheepskin Trail together!
Join the Friends of the Sheepskin Trail for the first meeting of the 2018 trail season!
