Fatal Landslide Closes the GAP Between Ohiopyle and Connellsville
A landslide near mile marker 88 on Saturday killed one bicyclist and injured another. The GAP is closed between Ohiopyle and Connellsville. What riders and Confluence should know.
A landslide on the Great Allegheny Passage on Saturday, October 17, killed one bicyclist and seriously injured another. The trail is closed between Ohiopyle and Connellsville, and no reopening date has been announced.
The slide came down around midday inside Ohiopyle State Park, near mile marker 88 (officials put it at about 87.6) in Fayette County. State Police were sent for two people trapped under a rock. Morrell Volunteer Fire Company and two other fire companies lifted the boulder, which a fire company leader estimated at about 1,000 pounds, using cribbing, webbing and air bags, and freed both riders in about ten minutes, according to the Observer-Reporter.
Fayette County Coroner Bob Baker said the woman who died was 76 and from Florida. The second rider was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital with serious injuries, and no update on their condition has been released. Connellsville Mayor Greg Lincoln described the two as a couple out for a ride on a beautiful day and called it a terrible accident. State Police and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources are investigating, and no cause has been announced.
If you ride, please stay off that section. Anyone planning a through trip is asked to arrange a shuttle between Ohiopyle and Connellsville, and a list of services is at gaptrail.org under Where to Go, Sites & Amenities, Shuttles. The trail’s own site, gaptrail.org, will carry updates.
It is a sad day for everyone involved, beginning with the family and friends of the woman who died and the rider recovering from injuries. Our thoughts are with them, and with the first responders who went to work on a hard call.
Confluence sits on the through-rider route, and we have seen what a closure does. Hardly two months ago storm damage shut down a 27-mile stretch through Ohiopyle, and the trail came back thanks to a lot of hands. A closure two stops down the line will likely mean fewer through riders for the shops, restaurants and lodging here in the weeks ahead. If you can, stop in at them.
We will update this story as more is known.