Ohiopyle State Park in southwestern Pennsylvania offers endless recreation opportunities including white water rafting, hiking, mountain biking, cross country skiing, and more. Biking the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP), a 150-mile trail that stretches from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, is another popular activity as the trail runs right through the park.

Here is an itinerary for a day trip bike ride on the GAP from Ohiopyle to multiple waterfalls that I think everyone will enjoy.

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Summary

  • Itinerary– Park in Ohiopyle, ride GAP to Johnathon Run and Sugar Run waterfall areas, park bikes and explore waterfalls, ride back, and have a picnic at the playground
  • Distance – About 3.5 miles one way, 7 miles round trip
  • Trail – Flat and easy, crushed stone surface
  • Kids ages – My kids were 11 months and 2 1/2 years, sister’s kids were 7, 9, and 11.
  • Child Transport – We took my kids in our Topeak bike seats and my sisters kids rode independently. I think a pull-behind trailer would be fine too.

Bike Rentals

If you don’t have a bike, there are multiple bike rental options in town. I’ve seen pull-behind trailers to rent as well if you are taking little ones with you. (My best guess here. If I missed a bike rental, please let me know).

Parking

We parked near the Low Bridge in town. There’s a bathroom between the parking lot and the Low Bridge. You can also park in the Ferncliff Natural Parking Area, and cross back over the Low Bridge if you need a restroom.

The Ride

From where we parked, we hopped on the GAP and crossed the Low Bridge headed toward Connellsville, and admired our first view of the Youghiogheny River (The Yough).

A little while farther, we crossed the High Bridge with another beautiful view of the Yough. We visit the area a lot and have tons of pictures on the High Bridge. The view is stunning year-round. Don’t forget to look for kayakers and rafters below.

After the bridge is a good time to check in to make sure you’re headed in the right direction. There’s a sign at the end of the bridge. Make sure you’re headed toward Connellsville.

This area also has a sign for the trailhead for the Great Gorge Trail. If you have a chance, take the out and back hike to Cucumber Falls, roughly 3 miles total. If you don’t have time for the hike, you can park near Cucumber Falls for a quick pit stop. The falls are a beauty, and a must-see when visiting the park.

Getting back to the bike ride, we continued the flat and easy trail and enjoyed the woods, the rock formations, wildflowers, and sights and sounds of a train passing by.

After trail marker 75, we parked our bikes near a bench on the left side of the trail near a sign for Jonathon Run.

From here, we chose to walk roughly 0.2 miles down the bike trail to explore waterfalls on Sugar Run. We had a large crew so there was more space to park our bikes here. But you can easily continue on bikes to the area near Sugar Run and park your bike there.

The short trail to the waterfall is located right near the sign for Mitchell Field with a bench nearby. This is also Geology Stop number 27 on the Ohiopyle Geology Tour.

I absolutely love this waterfall on Sugar Run. It’s tucked away in a quaint cove and is often less crowded. It might be my favorite waterfall in the park.

We also spotted another waterfall on Sugar Run on the other side of the bike trail as well. Look for a short overlook trail.

After we explored waterfalls on Sugar Run, we walked back to where we parked our bikes. We spent so much time exploring Sugar Run, that my little ones started to get hungry, so we started biking back to town. But, if you have the time, take the Jonathon Run Trail next to the Jonathon Run sign and the bench. It’s a short distance to exploring Upper and Lower Jonathon Run Falls.

Although we didn’t explore Jonathon Run Falls that day, we have visited before. When exploring Lower Jonathon Run Falls, you definitely want to use caution and don’t proceed if you feel you can’t. There’s a rope for some help, but it’s very steep. I didn’t take my little ones down, but my nieces and nephew managed fine on their own.

If you can’t or don’t want to ride your bike to this area to explore waterfalls, you can hike from the Jonathon Run Trail, Old Mitchell Trail to Eelah Trail, Kentuck Trail, and Sugar Run Trail. Check out the Sugar Run Waterfall Loop Hike which is one of our favorite hikes in the park.

With all the waterfall options to explore in Ohiopyle, be sure to check out a tip for taking stunning pictures of waterfalls on your iPhone.

After we biked backed to town, our crew opted for a picnic at the playground located right in town, with the usual pepperoni rolls. But there are lots of options in town for food, ice cream, craft beer, and more.

Don’t forget to get your PA State Park passport booked stamped at the Visitor Center. Passport books can be purchased in the Visitor Center or online.

Our family loves multigenerational trips and everyone enjoyed this waterfall bike ride. Among all the other great ways to explore Ohiopyle, this day bike ride is up there for me as one of the best ways to spend a few hours in the park with my family. Here is a breakdown of our ride for reference.

As always, this is just what we ended up doing. It can be modified in many ways. I’m just sharing what we did to serve as a reference point to help you with your plans. Whatever you decide, I want to see or hear about your adventures on the GAP in Ohiopyle. Leave a comment or tag me on Instagram (@adventureswkelly).

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