Be sure be sure to read CSGA Cartography – Part 6.
Filling the Gaps
After finishing up the remainder of the Upper Loop from the end of CSGA Cartography – Part 6 I had made my way back to Section 1 where I took the first right (north) turn after just entering the trail to run the Section 1 Outer Loop (OL). This trail starts with a fairly steep climb when you get to what appears to be the top there is a very short loop to the north east that continues uphill. The main trail heads west back down the hill and runs parallel with Section 1. There was a massive tree fallen at the bottom of the small valley which makes finding the trail difficult. I ended up walking for about 5 minutes until I found the trail which was west and slightly north of where I had run into the downed tree. The trail continues uphill and then back down and reconnects with the portion of Section 1 that cuts out the “old Section 1 loop”.
As I came to the 5 Mile Rd connector on Section 1 running counter clockwise I decided to finish the remainder of my long run by connecting Cannonsburg Ski Area which recently had opened to runners and mountain bikers. The Ski Area trail is accessible via Egypt Valley Rd and the road section between the two is about 0.75 miles.
The remainder of the extra trails are off of Section 3 and 4 which I mapped over a number of runs. The public maps show a “Bonus Section” that connects Section 4 back to 4 Mile Rd east of the main parking lot. I ran this at the very end of a long run in late-March and running it at the end turned out to be quite the quad burner because it’s quite an up hill when running it counter clockwise. I connected to this trail by running Section 4 counter clockwise in reverse. As you come down the trail after 0.3 miles you’ll see a trail to the left that connects the bonus section. Be prepared for a long up hill that eventually flattens out and exists you on 4 Mile Rd.
Just down from where the Bonus Section meets Section 4 when running counter clockwise you’ll find another trail to the left (north) that connections Section 4 to Section 3 without going out onto 3 Mile Rd. The entrance from both sections are hard to spot but once you’ve run them the trails tend to be more noticeable. I ran this section going from Section 4 to Section 3, when coming to the mid point you’ll come to a field and need to keep running east across the field to connect with the trail section that meets up with Section 3. The next week I would run this same section in reverse (unfortunately I saved my run prematurely to take the picture below and it is split into two parts: here and here).
Read on for more trail details in CSGA Cartography – Part 8.