The Great Ride

"The Great Ride: Landmarks Along the Trail" NEW Documentary
The Great Ride is back with more exploration of one of America's most treasured biking destinations – the Great Allegheny Passage, known as the GAP. WQED will premiere The Great Ride: Landmarks Along the Trail on Thursday, June 16 on WQED-TV. The documentary will also be available online or the PBS Video App.
The Great Ride: Landmarks Along the Trail focuses on the 150-mile GAP, beginning in Pittsburgh, and ending in Cumberland, Maryland. In the new 2022 program, bikers and hikers get a more personal, up-close look as the producers identify key landmarks on the trail, exploring the significance, history, and appeal of each stop.
The Great Ride is available to order on Blu-Ray and DVD. It includes the full documentary and 11 short features showcasing landmarks along the trail.
Voice of the Arts Podcast: Beth Dolinar and Bryan Perry
Emmy Award winning producer Beth Dolinar joins Bryan Perry, Executive Director of the Great Allegheny Passage and Jim Cunningham to discuss events relating to the screenings of the new documentary "The Great Ride Landmarks Along the Trail," which airs on WQED June 16th at 8pm. Recently praised by the New York Times and other national media, the trail continues to generate tourism in the bicycle route from Pittsburgh to Washington DC. Three screenings with questions and answers from the principals will celebrate the film closing with Confluence, PA and Frostburg, Maryland.
Enjoy these short videos featuring some of the GAP and C&O Canal Towpath's popular stops.
WQED's "The Great Ride" initiative explores one of America's most treasured biking destinations. Cyclists from all over the world are enjoying 335 miles of breathtaking scenery and fascinating history on two connecting trails: the Great Allegheny Passage (Pittsburgh, PA to Cumberland, MD) and the C&O Canal Towpath which continues to Washington, DC, The multiplatform initiative includes a 60-minute documentary, complementary short videos that highlight some of the trail's treasured landmarks, and educational resources for teachers, students and families.
From mile marker zero in Cumberland, MD, the 150-mile Great Allegheny Passage crosses splendorous valleys, snakes around mountains, running alongside three rivers (the Casselman, Youghiogheny, and Monongahela) on its nearly level trail of former railroad lines. Cyclists pass through the Cumberland Narrows, cross the Mason-Dixon Line, breeze through the Big Savage Tunnel and top the Eastern Continental Divide at 2,392’. They weave through the lush Laurel Highlands, pedal next to the roiling white water of Ohiopyle State Park, journey through Western Pennsylvania's mining and steel-making corridor - to end at Pittsburgh’s majestic Point State Park.
Cyclists go back in time - biking where mules once trudged a 185-mile path next to a canal, pulling goods-laden barges between Washington, DC and Cumberland, MD. When railroads made the canal obsolete, the C&O Canal Towpath was preserved as a national park. Today, bikers travel the forested, level trail that hugs both the remnants of the canal and the panoramic Potomac River. Quaint lock keeper houses, picturesque stone aqueducts, the glorious Great Falls in Maryland and the rustic Paw Paw Tunnel are among the many attractions along the C&O trail to its end in Cumberland - where the Great Allegheny Passage trail beckons.
WQED thanks these funders for their generous support of our Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal Towpath documentary and multimedia initiative.
Allegany County Maryland
Allegany County Tourism
Allegheny Trail Alliance
Aurora Electrical & Data Services
C&O Canal Association
Destination DC
Hagerstown Convention and Visitor's Bureau
The Inn at Lenoras
Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau
Mascaro
Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Pennsylvania Recreation & Park Society
Resolution Rentals
UPMC
Wabtec Corporation