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P.O. Box 242, West Newton, Pennsylvania, 15089 United States
The Westmoreland County Section of the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP).
Thanks for stopping by!
Picture by Victor Pilipovich
2025 March 29th, The WYTC Team. Thank You! The 23rd annual March for Parks was another marvelous success!
Approximately 350 marchers, volunteers, sponsors, and staff gathered at Twin Lakes Park, raising over $61,000 to support projects and programs in our Westmoreland County parks and trails.
A BBQ pig roast lunch was sponsored by the Westmoreland County Board of Commissioners, fun games and activities for kids, a large basket raffle auction, live music, and a brisk march around the upper and lower lakes.
2024 WYTC MAINTENANCE SUMMARY by Bob Hand
Overview
With the financial help from membership dues, donations, Westmoreland Yough Trail Chapter (WYTC) fundraising events, and grants, the WYTC Over the Hill Gang (OTHG) maintenance crew had a great year providing routine maintenance and installing new amenities along our section of the GAP trail. Safety of the volunteers was the initial priority. An extensive inventory of personal protective equipment was purchased and made available to the OTHG. A large metal Safety Cabinet in the maintence building houses gloves, masks, helmets, safety glasses, chainsaw safety apparel, and an AED . First aid equipment including eye wash kits were installed in the maintenance building and attached to all the tractors and golf carts. The OTHG received hands on training on AED operation and CPR techniques from Mary Popovich, West Newton Mayor and highly trained CPR/AED/First Aid Trainer.
Safety Cage for use in overhead vegetation control.
The trimming of overhead vegetation is now being carried out using a safety cage attached to a tractor. This allows volunteers to work at a height more safely by providing a more secure, enclosed structure to work in.
New Dump Truck Bed
Our 2006 Chevrolet dump truck is a sound and sturdy vehicle but its previous life as a snow plow and salt dispenser left the bed badly corroded. With the help of a grant from the Charles P and Allison C. Tucker Charitable Gift Fund we were able to have a new lift bed fabricated and installed. This will provide many more years of useable service from the truck.
Kenny Ross Subaru employee volunteers applying sealer to the new fence at the King Trailhead.
The parking lot at the King Trailhead and at the West Newton Station were sealed and relined by an outside contractor. The fence at the King Trailhead lot was replaced in a project that was partially done by an outside contractor and by the OTHG crew. 
The contractor installed the upright poles and the OTHG installed the cross rails. Once the fence was in place a volunteer crew of Kenny Ross Subaru employees painted a coat of sealer on the fence.
Over the Hill Gang (OTHG) members Dave Armstrong, Jim Logan installing a new doggie bag dispenser
Included in the rehab of the King parking lot, a new pet waste station was installed on the south end of the lot.
Refurbished overlook deck, across from West Newton Station
Many don’t realize that there is a river overlook deck across the road from West Newton Station. It was built back in the 90’s and has seen little use and has fallen into disrepair over the years.
To bring this trail amenity back to life, the OTHG spent most of the summer, cutting back the vegetation around the deck and along a path to the river, cleaning, and putting a new coat of stain on the deck, and power washing the paver bricks surrounding the deck. Once the deck work was completed a picnic table was installed on the deck and a new sign pointing the way to the deck was installed.
It is now an attractive, safe and comfortable spot for a rest after fun activities on the trail.
Refurbished Overlook Sign Across from West Newton Station
Our Over The Hill Gang Works throughout the Year! Do you Want to Join them?
Refurbished Overlook Sign Across from West Newton Station
Spreading topsoil below the West Newton Cemetery.
Our Over The Hill Gang Works throughout the Year! Do you Want to Join them?
Refurbished Overlook Sign Across from West Newton Station
In the grassy area along the trail below the West Newton Station there is a large section of grass that sits atop buried railroad ties. As the soil above the ties has settled over the years, riding a lawn tractor over that area has become difficult. The bumps are continuous! To correct the problem the OTHG with the help of a grant from the Westmoreland County Parks Department spread several large dump truck loads of topsoil to smooth out the surface. Ninety percent of the project was completed, and the remainder will be installed in the spring of 2025.
Our Over The Hill Gang Works throughout the Year! Do you Want to Join them?
Our Over The Hill Gang Works throughout the Year! Do you Want to Join them?
Our Over The Hill Gang Works throughout the Year! Do you Want to Join them?
Throughout the season, all of the regular, routine jobs of weed whacking, drainage ditch cleaning, trash collection, leaf blowing, clearing downed trees, trail patching, overhead vegetation control, equipment cleaning and repairs were done by a dedicated crew most of whom work on the Wednesday morning work parties. Others work on their own schedule, particularly in staying ahead of a constantly growing 10.5-mile strip of grass.
To aid that work a used golf cart was added to our fleet to get workers to locations all along the 10.5-mile section.
The OTHG and the WYTC thank the Tucker Charitable Gift Fund, Westmoreland County Parks Dept., and the Craig family for financial support and tool donations. We now look forward to planning and completing more projects that help make the WYTC section of the GAP the best of all!
If you are interested in helping the trail maintenance efforts to stay alive, please contact the Over the Hill Gang through the email, wytcnews@hotmail.com. Keep checking back at this website for more information about activities at the Westmoreland Yough Trail Chapter.