The David S. Ammerman Trail, formerly known as the Clearfield and Grampian Trail, is another one of Pennsylvania’s rails-to-trails conversions. It connects Clearfield with Grampian, PA via the roadbed of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The Pennsylvania Railroad’s sucsessor, Conrail Railroad, operated the last trains over this route in 1988. In 1992 Clearfield County Rails to Trails obtained ownership, but it would be several years until the trail was completed. In 2011, the name was changed to the David S. Ammerman Trail in memory of the man who championed turning the abandoned rail corridor into a recreational trail. The Ammerman is one of the few rails-to-trails in western PA that my husband Rick and I hadn’t yet tried. So with a rare day off together, we decided to trek all the way to Clearfield County to do our first ride of the season. We began our ride in Clearfield at the trailhead, right off of Chester Street, next to the site of an old hardware store. I’m basing the address of the trailhead on Google Maps. Anyway, like says, there’s ample parking here if your’e going to do a ride. The trail surface is all crushed limestone, so a trail, hybrid, or mountain bike is recommended. The ride out of Clearfield is an easy one and you can take it at a leisurely pace. You’ll go past some backyards and businesses. Once out of Clearfield, it’s a pleasant ride on down to Curwensville. A number of antique stores are along the way. Curwensville is midway between Clearfield and Grampian and the old railroad right-of-way is interrupted in town. The trail makes an odd crossing at Bloomington Avnue and State Street, but it’s well marked so you shouldn’t get lost. Back on the trail, we made our way west, reaching our endpoint at Grampian, so named by Scottish settlers after the Grampian Mountains of Scotland. The Ammerman isn’t the most spectacular rails-to-trails, but it features a few short former railroad bridges, views of forests and farmlands, and it crosses Kratzer Run, Anderson Creek and the Susquehanna River. Although we traveled nearly 200 miles roundtrip in order to enjoy a 20 mile bike ride, we made a whole day of it.
