the abandoned pennsylvania turnpike

by Kaylah Stroup
Last weekend a group of friends and I took a mini roadtrip to the abandoned Pennsylvania turnpike. It’s a thirteen mile stretch of the PA turnpike that was bypassed when a modern stretch opened in 1968 to ease traffic congestion in the tunnels. It’s now an unofficial bike trail that you can bike at your own risk.

Since the road is rough, I opted not to take my beloved fixed gear bicycle with it’s skinny little tires. Instead I rode my old cruiser (remember her?) which I’m not sure if it was really for the best. I found the ride to be fairly challenging. I would just blame that on me being out of shape but I bike nearly everyday. The hills and not being used to riding a single speed cruiser killed me.

Rough ride aside, it was an awesome trip, and I had a TON of fun. There was lots of graffiti and abandoned maintenance rooms for the tunnels. The buildings were pretty empty except for giant turbines used to pull all the bad air out of the tunnels.

The ride back to the car was cold. The sun was setting quickly and the temperature was dropping rapidly. The tunnel closest to the car, which is also luckily the shortest, had the craziest freezing cold breeze blowing through it the second time through. I just closed my eyes since the wind was just making them water and pedaled as hard as I could (which at the end of the day wasn’t all that hard at all!)  Maybe coming this late in the season wasn’t the best idea, or maybe we all just were a bit under-dressed but it sure was beautiful. We could not have picked a more beautiful time to come. The leaves were absolutely gorgeous.

So basically this trip contained three of my favorites things; bikes, abandoned structures, and nature! As hard of a time as I had biking some parts, I’m really looking forward to going back and doing it again next year.
xoxo

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24 comments

Lostvestige October 9, 2014 - 12:35 pm

Oh man that is SO cool! It looks like a wonderfully perfect biking trail!

Kaylah October 10, 2014 - 12:48 pm

It really is! Such a fun place!

thedailymiacis October 9, 2014 - 1:10 pm

So much great photos! And love your cruiser *.* Perhaps it was challeging because the cruiser its probably heavier that your thin bike. But anyway, it's always worth it! 🙂

Kaylah October 10, 2014 - 12:49 pm

Oh, that definitely was a factor. It's crazy how much heavier that thing is. My fixed gear bike weighs next to nothing.

Carly Kaste October 9, 2014 - 1:17 pm

How cool! Your adventurousness always inspires me to do something a little risky. You always get such wonderful photos and come back with so many stories! 🙂

Kaylah October 10, 2014 - 12:50 pm

Uh oh! Don't do anything too risky! 😉

julia October 9, 2014 - 1:41 pm

lovely pictures… such nice autumn colors!

Kaylah October 10, 2014 - 12:50 pm

Thanks, Julia!

Alexandra October 9, 2014 - 1:55 pm

Those leaves! We haven't had many change in New York yet and I always miss Ohio/PA at this time of year. What beautiful scenery <3

Kaylah October 10, 2014 - 12:50 pm

Hmm, sounds like you need to come back for a visit…a visit where you'll go on adventures with Jeff and I! 😀

graceforagirl October 9, 2014 - 2:59 pm

I love the mix of tree and turnpike. Natural old growing things and consructed old decaying things. It's a bit lovely.

Kaylah October 10, 2014 - 12:51 pm

Yep, that's my favorite – nature taking back over.

Tori's Tales October 9, 2014 - 3:01 pm

I'm imagining how spooky this would be to journey through on Halloween….pretty darn, I'd say (although a lot of that'd be down to me not being able to ride a bike!).

The last image with the autumn colours on the trees is stunning, Kaylah. I love that, even though the turnpike was abandoned it's still being used – in one form – and that it has been decorated with such fantastic wall art!

Kaylah October 10, 2014 - 12:53 pm

Oh, it could totally be made spooky really easily. It would be so cool if they turned it into some kind of haunted bike ride in the fall!

Krista Clor October 9, 2014 - 6:38 pm

That "do not scream" graffiti looks really awesome but quite creepy.

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Kaylah October 10, 2014 - 12:53 pm

Totally creepy! I love it!!

jess buckley October 9, 2014 - 10:30 pm

gorgeous photos as always! I'd kill to go exploring with you!

Kaylah October 10, 2014 - 12:54 pm

Thanks, Jess!! 🙂

Sara // A Wild Rose October 9, 2014 - 10:33 pm

Do you have an address for this? I live in PA and I'd LOVE to see this!!!

x Sara from awildrose.co

Kaylah October 10, 2014 - 12:55 pm

It's in Breezewood, PA. I don't know the address off the top of my head but you can easily find tons of info, including where you should park if you google it.
"Abandoned PA Turnpike"

You should definitely go! It's a blast!

Kate October 10, 2014 - 12:46 am

Had no idea this existed… so cool! The foliage looks great. Sorry your ride didn't go as smoothly, but at least you had some kickass scenery.

I seriously might check this place out for myself sometime.

Kaylah October 10, 2014 - 12:55 pm

Definitely do check it out! It's super awesome!

B October 13, 2014 - 6:09 pm

This place looks really awesome! I might have to check it out!

Joie Fatale October 14, 2014 - 6:06 pm

I hope "Cruel Sumr" is someone's tag name…cause that's a GREAT one (to me)!

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