Duck Hollow Trail

Others have documented the details. I’ll just say, let’s be kind. This whole trail system is a work in progress. There are non-​profit organizations spending millions to buy rights, make code-​driven improvements, and going to court to clear obstacles to bring us more, longer, and inter-​connected trails. They’ve done great job in Pittsburgh so far.
One day, this trail will be longer, and will connect the system to other trails. Yes, it could be better, but keep the faith. It is much better than nothing.

I use this trail frequently to walk my dogs and take them swimming in the Mon. It’s when my dogs are at their happiest, paddling around in shallow water and chasing waves.
Save your urge to warn me about all the dangers associated with the above. I’ve heard it all before.
I love this little sleeper gem of a trail.
Denise

The Duck Hollow trail is 1.4 miles long. It’s a nice place to walk or stroll through the woods along the banks of the Monongahela River, away from the noise of cars and trucks. You can reach this trail from Frick Park via the Nine Mile Run trail, a crushed limestone /​gravel trail that opened in May 2010. The NMR trail extends from Commercial St along Nine Mile Run to the Monongahela River at the little community of Duck Hollow, where you ride down Old Brown’s Hill Road a bit, under the railroad bridge, and then through the big Duck Hollow parking lot to get to the beginning of Duck Hollow Trail, which is paved. Across the river you’ll see Sandcastle waterpark. DH trail’s downstream end is under the Glenwood Bridge. It’s pretty safe, but a little inconvenient (carry your bike), to cross the 5 RR tracks — there are few trains here and I’ve crossed these tracks at least 20 times and never been hassled. Crossing the tracks gets you to 2^nd Avenue so that you can bike either through Hazelwood toward Oakland or across the Glenwood Bridge to the south bank, near Sandcastle.
Maps: go to
, roll over «Traffic» and click on «Bicycling», or go to
and see their PDF map.
Steel Valley Trail Council and Friends of the Riverfront are working to create a better bicycle connection at the Glenwood Bridge. With the Great Allegheny Passage trail expected to be (finally) completed near Sandcastle in 2011 or 2012, this would be an excellent time to connect Duck Hollow Trail properly. We’d also like to get a trail built downstream from there through Hazelwood to connect the DH trail to the Eliza Furnace Trail (aka Jail Trail) toward downtown Pittsburgh, and upstream from Duck Hollow past Carrie Furnace to Rankin and across the river on the abandoned Rankin Hot Metal Bridge. If you’d like to help with these efforts then please email me at
.
Unfortunately, expensive porkbarrel freeway construction projects often take priority over less expensive but more beneficial trail construction projects, but if enough people speak out, we can help correct that.

A mile or so long trail along the Mon that goes from no place to nowhere via nothing. It is a rails-​to-​trails conversion and it runs along a roadbed once used for shuttling coal between the rail line and barges. Its parking lot on the eastern end was once a transfer point between the river and the slag dumps on Nine Mile Run. The trail ends abruptly on the western end at the CSX Railway. Some people trespass along the rail line with their bikes. Don’t do this because this is a very heavily used freight rail line. It’s also illegal and my husband the train enthusiast has said the train crews will radio the police to report tresspassers.
A couple of interesting points too. This trail is is a «paper street» long owned by the city but never developed before. The community of Duck Hollow is very isolated from the rest of the city and if you go just a little bit east of the trailhead along Old Browns Hill Road, you’ll cross a one lane bridge and at the intersection of Old Browns Hill Road and McFarren Street (I believe) you’ll see one of the old Pittsburgh street signs.
Duck Hollow Trail is a pleasant trail but there’s not much to it. Eventually it may link with other trails as part of the Great Allegheny Passage. I went on this trail once and even though I live nearby in Squirrel Hill, I didn’t think it was worth the effort.