Originally Published in the Altoona Mirror, August 20, 2026

Before it became the newest section of the Logan Valley Trail, the space connecting Becker Road and Lower Riggles Gap Road was a hazardous waste site.

Funded by a $1.3 million Abandoned Mine Lands grant, workers administered by the Department of Environmental Protection hauled from the site about 300,000 tons of coal, which was created by the nearby railroad, Antis Township manager Douglas Brown said.

The department installed the trail surface after cleaning the area, he said. As part of the coal project, Robindale Energy also matched PennDOT’s grant for phase three of the trail that will extend to Juniata.

To celebrate the completion of the second section of the trailway, local representatives and trail fans gathered Wednesday morning by the trailhead at 428 Lower Riggles Gap Road, which runs adjacent to a Norfolk Southern mainline track.

Chairman of the Antis Township Board of Supervisors George Bell said he didn’t see the wasteland’s potential at first, but now realizes the value with a 1.7-mile-long nature path.

“Now, it’s this jewel, it’s this beautiful,” he said. “Thankfully, people had vision.”

A few years ago, the township coordinated a trail feasibility study and found out the community supported the idea of a trail, Brown said.

With plans to construct a 0.8-mile trail from Bellwood’s Main Street to Becker Road, the township paid for real estate purchases and easements. PennDOT, the Department of Community and Economic Development and Southern Alleghenies Planning and Development Commission built the trail for $2.1 million, a previous Mirror article states.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in December 2024 with plans to expand the trail from Becker Road to Lower Riggles Gap Road.

Work on the second half of the project spanned from winter 2024 until this summer, Blair County Trail, Park and Recreation Authority Executive Director Glenn Evans said, with the township installing fences and a bridge a few months ago.

They have yet to install a trailhead sign and parking, he said, but many people have already incorporated the Logan Valley Trail into their daily activities.

“These are four-season trails, so even though most of the use happens in spring, summer, fall, we see cross-country skiing; when the weather is fine, people go hiking,” he said.

And when phase three of the project begins, Evans said the paved trailways will be even more accessible to the community. He said they’re also considering adding an overlook area.

“Particularly with things like the Big Boy (steam locomotive) where folks were coming out of the woodwork to see trains come through, (we’re) trying to build off that heritage,” he said.

For now, however, Bell said contributors to the trailway project are still working on their final version of the Logan Valley Trail, adding, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

“But the persistence and the patience and the vision is unbelievable, and the township residents are just very very grateful,” he said.