Pennsylvania

Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail

in Pennsylvania · centroid 46 mi from Pittsburgh

A 70-mile hiking trail stretching along Laurel Mountain from the Youghiogheny River at Ohiopyle State Park to the Conemaugh Gorge near Johnstown.

Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail
Photo via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Network
Regional (rwn)
Maintained by
PA DCNR
Reference
LHT
Centroid nearest city
Pittsburgh, PA · 46 mi · ~1.3 hr drive
Centroid coords
40.1326°, -79.2309°
OSM relation
7192246
From Wikipedia: The Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail is a 70.1-mile (112.8 km) hiking trail in southwestern Pennsylvania, which largely follows the Laurel Hill geologic formation. It begins at Ohiopyle State Park and travels generally to the northeast and ends at Conemaugh Gorge near Johnstown. Construction of the trail began in 1970. It has been named as one of Pennsylvania's most popular backpacking trails and the premier trail in the southwestern region of the state. Excerpt from the Wikipedia article on Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Plan your hike

Practical notes

Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.

Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.

When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.

If you've hiked Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.

Stay nearby

Affiliate · disclosed
Driving in? The nearest documented metro is Pittsburgh, PA — 46 miles away (~1.3 hr drive). See accommodation in Pittsburgh on Booking.com → RoamFound earns a small commission if you book through this link, at no extra cost to you. How we handle affiliate links.

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14 nearby

Sources

Public data + curation

Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.