McKeesport Trail Parking in McKeesport
RCM from Los Alamos on 01/21/2023 10:58 PM:
This parking lot looks large. Would I be allowed to park here for a 10-day ride? Is there any concern about security?
Rivnuts from Homestead,PA on 01/22/2023 08:52 AM:
It is a quite large parking lot adjacent to the City of McKeesport Police and Fire stations many of whose members’ cars and spare police vehicles park. While there may be an “Overnight Parking Only” sign there, I highly doubt or ever heard of any enforcement since the lot is rarely more than, say, 20% full. (I’ll look for such a sign the next time I ride by there.). If you do park there, park up nearer the firehouse where the policemen and firemen park their personal cars and walk in and through that area regularly. It should be as secure there as anywhere as long as you take the normal precautions such as removing anything of value inside from sight.
McKeesport Trailhead in McKeesport
Bill in Houston from Houston on 10/26/2020 06:24 PM:
McKeesport was interesting, in that you don't pass through town, or kind of close to town, but rather through a series of back alleys and former industrial stuff, like they are trying to hide the town from you.
Which, I guess, is neither here nor there.
Just know that if you want to see some sort of flavor of the town, you need to plot your own route through town rather than staying on the trail.
During the season, the waterfront might be more lively, though, and that might change the feel.
Rivnuts from Homestead, PA on 10/26/2020 08:08 PM:
As a resident of Homestead and virtually daily rider of the GAP trail, I'm impressed how much of the trail, its sites and businesses you found and visited. I'm curious how many days you took to make the trip?
As for McKeesport, you were only a block away from what, arguably, is the main street of McKeesport. Lysle Boulevard. That said, you didn't miss much. Like many of the steel mill towns around Pittsburgh where the mills were shut down years ago, McKeesport lost the basis of its economy. What may not of been obvious is that you rode through the majority of that former mill site that was a major producer of steel pipe, aka tube.
Bill in Houston from Houston on 10/27/2020 09:55 AM:
We couldn't have done it without you, Rivnuts. We appreciated the input from you and all of the other users of this site.
We did one day of riding around in Cumberland (and on the C&O), and then 6 days on the GAP Trail. We really wanted to take our time and take lots of pictures and see everything.
I wish I had thought more about McKeesport and had made that jump up to Lysle. Even if towns aren't what they used to be, it's great to see old buildings and the remnants of the old economy.
The old mill structures were massive, and we noticed that one still had the tubular name on it. I can't imagine what that town (and the whole area) would have been like in better times.
I took a few hundred pics over the 7 or 8 days we were in the area and posted them daily on Facebook. Would people be interested in those?
Rivnuts from Homestead, PA on 10/28/2020 04:49 PM:
Certainly, pictures from your trip would be interesting. I'm curious what a rider new to the trail and not from the area finds worthy of pictures. No doubt you will have found items that we locals ride by each day and don't see or appreciate.
Cathy from Pittsburgh on 10/28/2020 09:41 PM:
I would love to see your photos. I used to ive in Missouri and biked the Katy Trail a lot. I loved the rural and rustic flavor of the Katy Trail. But I am intriqued by the urban areas the GAP goes by and the old and usually abandoned mills and factories and coal mines. The ones at McKeesport were my earliest favorites.
Bill in Houston from Houston on 10/30/2020 09:25 AM:
OK, I will make a separate thread for photos. :)
McKeesport Trailhead in McKeesport
Robert MacGregor from McKeesport, PA on 07/31/2016 09:09 AM:
There are two errors on the trail route. The trail crosses the RR tracks at Locust Street and goes behind the parking garage, police station and two city parks and crosses River Street to pass the McKeesport Marina. The trail forks just before the 15th Street bridge; the left fork takes the GAP across the 15th Street bridge to a separate trail leading to River Road. River Road is share the road to the old Durabond pipe yard, where it goes up to the right to the GAP trail to Boston.
Robert MacGregor from McKeesport, PA on 07/31/2016 09:21 AM:
Looking at the closeup view of the trail, there are more errors. The trail crosses Water Street, not River Street and follows a dedicated asphalt trail next to Water Street to go behind Kane Hospital. Then, it shares Market Street and 13th Street to join an asphalt trail parallel to Walnut Street to the fork leading to the 15th Street bridge.