JOHNSTOWN — On the eve of the 1889 Johnstown Flood’s anniversary, local and state officials gathered to celebrate the Path of the Flood Trail being named Pennsylvania’s 2025 Trail of the Year.

A sign unveiled Friday near the South Abutment trailhead in Adams Township honors the recognition, which makes the trail “truly complete,” according to National Park Service Ranger Doug Bosley.

Since starting work at the Johnstown Flood National Memorial in 2000, Bosley said he’s seen the Path of the Flood Trail develop from when its first section was completed in 2001 to when the final piece was finished in 2023.

According to the Cambria County Conservation & Recreation Authority’s website, the 14-mile trail takes visitors from where the South Fork Dam breached 136 years ago Saturday to the Stone Bridge in Johnstown.

Photo courtesy of DCNR

Along the path, there are numerous markers that tell the story of the flood and allow people to visualize the scene within Little Conemaugh River Valley, officials said.

“The havoc that was unleashed on the city of Johnstown only took 10 minutes. The recovery effort lasted for many months,” Cambria County Commissioner Tom Chernisky said.

By improving and reclaiming land to build the trail, Cambria County “opened the front door” to outdoor recreational opportunities that are boosting the region’s economy by linking communities together, Chernisky said.

Cliff Kitner, the authority’s executive director, said he believes Johnstown’s history is what makes the Path of the Flood Trail unique.

Since 2014, the Pennsylvania Trails Advisory Committee, formed under the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, has been responsible for accepting nominations and voting on the trail of the year.

Cambria County Conservation & Recreation Authority Executive Director Cliff Kitner speaks at a dedication ceremony Friday in Adams Township. A sign was unveiled during the ceremony in honor of the Path of the Flood Trail being named Pennsylvania’s 2025 Trail of the Year. Mirror photo by Matt Churella

In the last five years, two of the authority’s three trails have been named Pennsylvania’s Trail of the Year, Kitner said.

The Ghost Town Trail in Ebensburg received the honor in 2020, which attracted a “big influx” of people from across the nation, even internationally, to visit the area and use the trail, Kitner said.

Cambria County Conservation & Recreation Authority Assistant Executive Director Caytlin Lusk, who filed the application to nominate both trails for the recognition, said she anticipates the same will occur with the Path of the Flood Trail this year.

“We’ve already gotten a lot of inquiries (about visiting the trail),” Lusk said. “People want to come out and see some of the gems in the state of Pennsylvania.”

Courtney Mahronich Vita, of the Pennsylvania Trails Advisory Committee, said the committee’s members are always looking for “that one inspirational thing” that sets a trail “above all of the rest” when considering their vote for the state’s trail of the year.

The Path of the Flood Trail “really hit that mark,” she said.

“It was a beautiful blend of heritage, a celebration of recreation and just moving forward from something tragic to something beautiful and something our community can come to care about,” Mahronich Vita said.

Mahronich Vita said the Path of the Flood Trail also emphasized partnerships between several organizations, including the Cambria County Conservation & Recreation Authority, the National Park Service, the South Fork Historical Society, Coy/McCombie Link, the Conemaugh Valley Conservancy, Heritage Johnstown and the state Department of Environmental Protection’s office of active and abandoned mining operations.

Representatives from all of those organizations spoke during the dedication ceremony Friday to recognize the many people who played a part in building and maintaining the trail.

Brad Clemenson, of the Conemaugh Valley Conservancy, said the late congressman John Murtha was responsible for convincing the Bethlehem Steel Corp. to donate land that is now the National Park Service’s Staple Bend Tunnel Trail, which connects to the Path of the Flood Trail.

Clemenson said the Path of the Flood Trail will also be connected to the 911 National Memorial Trail when it’s built.

“This trail is well known now and it’s going to be even more well known,” Clemenson said.

DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn said the Path of the Flood Trail is her favorite trail because her ancestors were among those who died in the 1889 Johnstown Flood.

“My history, as is all of your history, is woven in these grounds and in this place,” Adams Dunn said. “This is what is so great about this trail is it brings about those stories from destruction and death to a remarkable comeback with this area.”

State Sen. Wayne Langerholc, R-Cambria, presented a Senate citation to Kitner and his staff to commemorate the “tremendous” honor.

“This is your legacy,” Langerholc said to county officials. “The legacy that you’re leaving touches the lives of so many.”

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.