Pennsylvania cycling in numbers
45%
Bike ownership
2,100+
Miles of trails
124
State parks
62
Bike friendliness score
Pennsylvania from a cyclist's perspective
Pennsylvania is a big state that rides like five different ones. Start in Pittsburgh and the southwest, where the rivers cut deep valleys and the streets climb walls, then run east into the Laurel Highlands and the long Allegheny ridges, where the GAP threads the gorges and the road climbs go on for miles. Push north into the PA Wilds and the Northern Tier, a near-empty quarter of dirt roads and state forest, and the riding turns remote and quiet. The ridge-and-valley center around State College stacks parallel mountains like corduroy, home to some of the rockiest singletrack in the country. The Poconos and the northeast bring forested rail-trails and gorge descents; Lancaster and the southeast roll out covered-bridge farm country; and Philadelphia anchors a metro with real trail infrastructure and a paved river path running clear out to Valley Forge.
The rail-trails are the headline, and they earn it. Pennsylvania holds more than 2,100 miles of rail-trail, third-most of any state, and the crown jewel is the Great Allegheny Passage, 150 crushed-limestone miles from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Maryland, where it links to the C&O Canal towpath for an uninterrupted, car-free run all the way to Washington, DC. The Pine Creek Rail Trail drops 62 miles through the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon at a grade so gentle you barely notice you're descending. The Schuylkill River Trail carries commuters and centuries alike out of Philadelphia, and the D&L and the Lehigh Gorge Trail string the eastern river valleys together for well over 100 miles of mostly flat, family-friendly riding.
The mountain bike scene is strong and unmistakably Pennsylvanian. Allegrippis at Raystown Lake is the state's machine-built flow benchmark, 30-plus miles of bermed, rolling IMBA singletrack that locals and travelers rate among the best public flow in the country. Around State College, Rothrock and Bald Eagle State Forests deliver the other extreme: Cooper's Gap, Tussey Mountain, and the ridge lines above town serve up the famous rock, chunky, technical, relentless terrain that humbles riders from softer states. Michaux State Forest in the south offers the same rugged character with its own deep network. PA rock is a rite of passage; learn to ride it and you can ride anywhere.
Gravel is where Pennsylvania quietly excels. The dirt forest roads of the Wilds, the network through Michaux, and the rolling backroads of the Susquehanna Valley have made the state a genuine gravel destination, anchored by unPAved, one of the East Coast's marquee events. Road riders are spoiled too: Lancaster's covered-bridge country is some of the prettiest low-traffic cycling in the Mid-Atlantic, the Poconos pile on forested climbs, and Pittsburgh's hills are a category unto themselves, short, savage pitches that built the most notorious hill-climb ride in America.
Ride here with eyes open. The technical MTB is genuinely hard, the rock gardens are real and unforgiving, not a marketing line. Summers run humid and buggy, winters turn cold and snowy, and the climbing is never far away whether you want it or not. Traffic stiffens around Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and rural roads can be narrow and shoulderless. None of it is a dealbreaker. It's the price of a state with this much terrain, and the rail-trail network gives you a soft landing on any day the mountains feel like too much.
Pennsylvania E-bike Laws
Pennsylvania skipped the Class 1/2/3 system entirely: one pedalcycle-with-electric-assist definition, under 750 watts, capped at 20 mph, no more than 100 pounds, riders 16 and up, and your e-bike is a bicycle with no license or plate required.
Pennsylvania wrote its own e-bike rules a year before the three-class system swept the country, and never switched. A compliant e-bike here is a "pedalcycle with electric assist": under 750 watts, capped at 20 mph on motor power, no more than 100 pounds, with working pedals. Meet that and it is a bicycle in the eyes of the state, with no license, no registration, no insurance.
Pennsylvania's only e-bike category: motor rated not more than 750 watts, operable pedals, and incapable of more than 20 mph on motor power on a level surface (75 Pa.C.S. 102).
A throttle is fine as long as the bike still cannot exceed 20 mph on motor power alone and stays under 750 watts and 100 pounds; cross any of those lines and it is no longer an e-bike.
Anything over 750 watts, over 20 mph on motor power, over 100 pounds, or without pedals is a motor-driven cycle or moped, with license, registration, and insurance to match.
A pedalcycle with electric assist is a bicycle under the Vehicle Code, not a motor vehicle, so no driver license is needed (75 Pa.C.S. 102).
No title, registration, or plate for a compliant e-bike; PennDOT treats it as a pedalcycle.
Pennsylvania mandates no liability coverage for a compliant e-bike, so theft and liability protection is on you.
No one under 16 may operate a pedalcycle with electric assist on a road, path, or sidewalk (75 Pa.C.S. 3501).
Riders and passengers under 12 must wear a certified helmet (75 Pa.C.S. 3510); the e-bike's 16+ floor means most operators are above the helmet age anyway.
Where You Can Ride
- Roads & bike lanesA compliant e-bike carries the full rights and duties of a pedalcycle on roads and in bike lanes (75 Pa.C.S. 3501).
- Shared-use pathsAllowed where bicycles are; yield to pedestrians and give an audible signal before passing (75 Pa.C.S. 3508).
- SidewalksBarred on sidewalks in business districts and wherever a usable bike lane runs alongside; elsewhere local ordinances govern (75 Pa.C.S. 3508).
- State parks & forestsDCNR allows compliant e-bikes wherever regular bikes go and on public-use roads, but on non-motorized trails you must pedal, since throttle-only is barred, and hiking-only trails and natural areas stay off-limits.
- Out-of-class e-motosOver 750 watts, over 20 mph on motor power, over 100 pounds, or no pedals means motor-driven cycle or moped rules: license, registration, insurance, and no DCNR trail access.
Effective 2015 under Pennsylvania Act 154 of 2014. Statutes: 75 Pa.C.S. 102, 3501, 3508, 3510; Pennsylvania Act 154 of 2014. Cities and park districts can add their own path and trail restrictions — check signage where you ride. Last reviewed June 2026.
Pennsylvania Cycling Weather
Pennsylvania's April-to-October core gives long, green shoulder seasons. The mountainous interior runs colder and shorter than mild Philadelphia.
Sunny days a year
Riding season
Apr - Oct
Pennsylvania Cycling Destinations
Great Allegheny Passage (GAP)
The GAP is the gold standard for American rail-trails: 150 miles of crushed limestone from Pittsburgh's riverfront to Cumberland, Maryland, where it meets the C&O Canal towpath for a continuous, car-free route all the way to Washington, DC. The grade never exceeds about 1.5%, so the only real climb is the long, gentle pull to the Eastern Continental Divide near Deal at about 2,375 feet, marked by the lit Big Savage Tunnel. Ohiopyle's whitewater and the Laurel Highlands form the scenic heart of the ride. Most riders take three or four days; strong riders chase the single-day 150-mile GAP Challenge. Link the GAP to the towpath and you have 335 continuous car-free miles from Pittsburgh to the National Mall, one of the great long-distance rides in the country. Trail towns like Ohiopyle, Confluence, and Meyersdale string the route with bike-friendly inns, cafes, and outfitters, so you can ride it self-supported carrying nothing but day bags.
Pine Creek Rail Trail
Pine Creek runs 62 crushed-limestone miles from Wellsboro Junction south to Jersey Shore, straight through the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon, the Pine Creek Gorge, with walls rising up to 1,400 feet. The grade is a near-imperceptible 2% downhill the whole way south, which makes it one of the most approachable big-mileage rides in the state. Expect waterfalls, eagles, and the occasional black bear sighting along a corridor that's mostly wilderness. Tioga and Lycoming counties bracket the route, and Wellsboro makes a tidy basecamp. Rails-to-Trails repeatedly ranks it among the best trails in the country. The surface is hard-packed and forgiving enough for any tire from gravel to hybrid, and Wellsboro outfitters rent bikes and run shuttles so you can ride one-way and skip the return leg. Time it for early October, when the gorge walls turn gold and crimson and the crowds thin out.
Allegrippis Trails at Raystown Lake
Allegrippis is Pennsylvania's flow-trail benchmark, roughly 30 miles of machine-built IMBA singletrack above Raystown Lake, the product of a partnership between IMBA and the Army Corps of Engineers that opened in 2008. The trails contour and roll with bermed turns and endless rhythm; one is regularly voted among the best public flow trails in the United States. It's a deliberate counterpoint to PA's notorious rock, fast, buff, and grin-inducing rather than punishing. Huntingdon supplies food and lodging minutes away, and you can stitch the 24 named trails into loops of almost any length. The main trailhead sits at the Susquehannock Campground, with parking, water, and lake access for a post-ride swim. Ride midweek and you may have the whole network to yourself, the climbs gentle enough that the descents never feel earned the hard way.
Schuylkill River Trail
The Schuylkill River Trail is Philadelphia's cycling spine: a wide, mostly paved path running from Center City past Boathouse Row and up Kelly Drive, out through Manayunk and on toward Valley Forge and Phoenixville. The developed section runs roughly 30 continuous miles, part of a planned 120-mile corridor that will eventually reach Frackville. It's flat, scenic, and busy, with commuters, runners, and century riders sharing it, and the Philadelphia skyline and the river as constant company. The closer-in stretch along Kelly Drive is one of the most popular cycling miles in the state. Spur trails branch off along the way, the Perkiomen and Chester Valley Trails among them, opening dozens more paved miles without touching traffic. It's free, lit through its city stretches, and rideable in any season the path is clear.
Lehigh Gorge Trail
The Lehigh Gorge Trail runs about 25 crushed-stone miles through Lehigh Gorge State Park, from White Haven down to the Victorian town of Jim Thorpe. Ride it north-to-south and it's a gentle downhill the whole way, which is why shuttle services from Jim Thorpe are a local institution: pedal easy and let the gorge do the work. Waterfalls, rapids, and steep forested walls line the corridor, a segment of the larger 140-plus-mile Delaware & Lehigh (D&L) Trail. Jim Thorpe itself, all switchback streets and old rail heritage, is one of the best trail towns in the Northeast. Outfitters in town run regular shuttles up to White Haven, so most riders pedal the gentle downhill once and skip the return grind. Push past the park boundary and the D&L carries you on through Lehighton and Allentown toward Easton and the Delaware.
Cooper's Gap, Rothrock State Forest
Rothrock State Forest near State College is where Pennsylvania's reputation for rugged mountain biking was made, and the Cooper's Gap Epic is its signature ride: roughly 26 miles climbing about 2,700 feet across the ridge lines above Happy Valley. It's an expert route, long fire-road climbs paying off in rocky, technical ridge-top singletrack and fast descents, with Tussey Mountain and the John Wert Path nearby for more of the same. Rothrock holds more than 100 miles of trail, so loops can be tailored down to a 9-mile intermediate option. Come prepared for the rock; this is the real PA. Bike shops and trailhead parking cluster around State College, ten minutes from the forest edge, and the Trans-Sylvania Epic stage race runs some of its hardest days on this very terrain. Carry tubes, a tough tire setup, and patience, because the rock chews up the unprepared.
Pennsylvania Cycling Events
From the Dirty Dozen's brutal Pittsburgh hills to the gravel of unPAved and the rocky stage racing of the Trans-Sylvania Epic, Pennsylvania's calendar is as varied as its terrain.
The Dirty Dozen
The Dirty Dozen is the most brutal hill-climb ride in America, founded in 1983 to find and race the 13 steepest hills in Pittsburgh. The course covers about 50 miles but the cruelty is vertical: Canton Avenue tops out around a 37% grade, regularly called the steepest public street in the country, and points are scored only at the summits. It's part race, part survival ride, and entirely a Pittsburgh institution, where anyone can enter but few clean all 13 hills. The 43rd edition runs October 24, 2026, having moved off its old Thanksgiving-weekend slot to late October.
Event website
unPAved of the Susquehanna River Valley
unPAved is one of the East Coast's premier gravel events, run out of historic Lewisburg in the Susquehanna River Valley. Riders pick their poison, from a short Rail-40 to the 50-, 70-, and 101-mile options up to the full 130-mile day, across a mix of dirt forest roads, farm lanes, and rail-trail through Bald Eagle State Forest country. The full route piles on roughly 12,000 feet of climbing and is a genuine all-day effort. It anchors a multi-day festival weekend at peak fall foliage that draws thousands to town. The 2026 edition rolls October 11.
Event website
Covered Bridge Classic
The Covered Bridge Classic, long known as the Covered Bridge Metric Century, is the Lancaster Bicycle Club's flagship ride through the heart of Amish farm country. Routes of 17, 31, 54, 66, and 100 miles roll out of Mount Joy past working farms and historic covered bridges, the bridge count climbing from two on the short loop to fourteen on the century, on moderate rolling terrain that rewards a steady pace over heroics. Now in its 47th year, it is one of the longest-running supported rides in the region, well-marshaled and famously well-fed at the rest stops, with proceeds funding the club's grant program. The 2026 edition runs August 16.
Event website
Michaux GRVL
Michaux GRVL drops you into the rugged dirt of Michaux State Forest, staged out of Caledonia State Park near Fayetteville and run by the Franklin County Cyclists. Four routes, 15, 45, 65, and the 100-mile Mighty Michaux expert course, climb through some of the chunkiest, most technical gravel in the state, with an aid station at Pine Grove Furnace State Park. This is Michaux: rocky, demanding, and not for riders looking for buffed-out rail-trail comfort. Paid entry includes a post-ride meal and beer voucher. The most recent edition ran September 27.
Event website
Pedal Pittsburgh
Pedal PGH is Pittsburgh's big community ride and the annual fundraiser for BikePGH, the city's bike-and-walk advocacy nonprofit. Four routes from a 7-mile family loop to the 62-mile U.S. Steel Epic showcase the city's neighborhoods, bridges, and famously steep terrain, where even the short routes find a hill. It rolls from Allegheny Commons Park West into a finish-line festival of food, music, and beer. A reliable late-August fixture, the 2026 ride is set for August 30.
Event website
Trans-Sylvania Mountain Bike Epic
The Trans-Sylvania Mountain Bike Epic is Central Pennsylvania's signature stage race, five days of racing on the rocky singletrack of Rothrock and Bald Eagle State Forests, based out of Seven Mountains Scout Camp in Spring Mills near State College. Riders choose the full 5-day Epic or a 3-day option, all of it over the technical, root-and-rock terrain that defines PA mountain biking. It's a true festival format, camp on site, race by day, recover by night, and a bucket-list event for endurance riders. The 2026 edition runs May 19 to 23.
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| E-bikes | Yes | No |
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