Altoona, PA · separated · mixed

Lower Trail

16.3 mi Out-and-back 256 ft gain

The Lower Trail is a 16.5-mile (26.6 km) rail trail that follows the Juniata River in West-Central Pennsylvania from Flowing Springs in Blair County to Alfarata in Huntingdon County. The Lower Trail is owned and maintained by Rails to Trails of Central Pennsylvania, a 501(c)(3) organization. The trail follows the path of the former Pennsylvania Railroad Petersburg Branch along the Frankstown Branch of the Juniata River. It is open free of charge to the public, though donations are accepted at all trailheads.

Live · updated Jun 13, 8:09 AM ET

Today's verdict

Marginal conditions — get the road bike out if you have to.

25 mph wind — strong — plan for slow outbound if wind is against you.
68°F air — right in road cycling's sweet spot

53 /100

53 Road

60 E-bike

Best for e-bike riding today

Route map

Orange marker is the start. Click the map to enable scroll-zoom — the polyline is approximate; use Ride with GPS or Komoot for turn-by-turn.

Atmosphere

Air temp

68°F

Clear
Wind

25 mph

NW
Rain

0%

Next 24h: 0.00"
Humidity

64%

Surface & daylight

Pavement

dry

mixed surface
Sunrise

5:41 AM
Sunset

8:43 PM

756 min remaining

Best time today

9 AM looks best — 69°F · 5 mph NW wind · sunny.

9 AM Best

69°

Sunny

5 mph NW

10 AM

73°

Sunny

5 mph NW

11 AM

76°

Sunny

5 mph NW

12 PM

79°

Sunny

6 mph NW

1 PM

82°

Sunny

6 mph NW

2 PM

84°

Sunny

6 mph NW

3 PM

84°

Sunny

6 mph W

4 PM

86°

Sunny

6 mph W

5 PM

84°

Sunny

6 mph W

6 PM

84°

Mostly Clear

5 mph W

7 PM

84°

Mostly Clear

3 mph W

8 PM

79°

Partly Cloudy

2 mph W

Wind on this route

25 mph crosswind — expect a 25 mph headwind on the return.

Currently 25 mph from the NW (320°). Relative to this ride's overall bearing, a crosswind.

Leg 1 Bearing 249° · crosswind 1.0 mi
Leg 2 Bearing 203° · quartering tailwind 1.3 mi
Leg 3 Bearing 226° · crosswind 1.4 mi
Leg 4 Bearing 182° · quartering tailwind 1.4 mi
Leg 5 Bearing 173° · quartering tailwind 1.3 mi
Leg 6 Bearing 214° · crosswind 1.3 mi
Leg 7 Bearing 245° · crosswind 1.0 mi
Leg 8 Bearing 277° · quartering headwind 0.5 mi

Elevation profile

2037 ft gain 1893 ft loss Max 1457' Min 755' 12.8 mi sampled

Score breakdown

68°F air Right in road cycling's sweet spot

+10

−

25 mph wind Strong — plan for slow outbound if wind is against you.

-18

−

Strong crosswind 25 mph crosswind — expect a 25 mph headwind on the return.

-3

Pavement: dry Clean dry pavement — maximum grip.

About this route

Distance: 16.3 mi one-way (double for round-trip)
Elevation gain: 256 ft
Surface: mixed
Shape: Out-and-back
Traffic exposure: separated
Activities: road cycling · e bike
Cycle network: LCN
Start: 40.5667, -78.1215
City hub: Altoona, PA
OSM: relation 5470479

Description sourced from the Wikipedia summary.