Translate:
P.O. Box 242, West Newton, Pennsylvania, 15089 United States
2023 WYTC Events
2023-03-25 March for Parks
2023-06-04 Trail Appreciation Day and Sale on the Trail
2023-06-04 Trail Appreciation Day and Sale on the Trail
Celebrate Westmoreland County's 25th anniversary at the March for Parks on Saturday, March 25, 2023!
The annual March for Parks fundraiser will kick-off the festivities for a year of celebration with historic activities and surprises for the whole family!
Though the March benefits all our parks and trails, this year we are concentrating our celebration at one location - Twin Lakes Park, where the MFP began 21 years ago.
On March 25, marchers can check-in at the Twin Lakes Park Nature Center starting at 8:00 am, turn in their donations, pick up a commemorative t-shirt, and participate in fun activities and games for all ages. There will be live entertainment, light food and refreshments, raffles, historical presentations, and more surprises! Stay tuned for more info!
What is the March for Parks?
The March for Parks is a fun event to raise money for new park & trail projects in Westmoreland County. Marchers collect contributions individually or as a team of three or more (dogs are welcome to participate, too!).
What projects are we fundraising for?
Westmoreland County Parks and Recreation is planning lots of new projects in our community, such as:
- Westmoreland Heritage Trail – completing the “middle gap” from Export to Delmont, land acquisition, planning, construction, and maintenance along the trail
- Northmoreland Park Master Plan projects - destination playground, kayak launch and improvements to lake walkways, BMX area
- Five Star Trail expansion project
- All Parks – improvements to playgrounds, renovating restrooms to become flushable, resurfacing parking lots and roadways
2023-06-04 Trail Appreciation Day and Sale on the Trail
2023-06-04 Trail Appreciation Day and Sale on the Trail
2023-06-04 Trail Appreciation Day and Sale on the Trail
(Across from the West Newton Visitor’s Center.)
Stop by our WYTC Table to learn more about Trail membership benefits, pick up individually packaged cookies, chips and water. Stop by the Visitor’s Center in West Newton for free hot dogs and refreshments and get to know your trail neighbors.
Find out what the West Newton Station has to offer you and meet the volunteers who make this resource possible for all GAP visitors.
If you join, you may be able to win a bag of Trail goodies!
Also, during Trail Appreciation Day the WYTC is sponsoring "Sale on the Trail", Flea Market, 11AM to 3PM
West Newton Train Station.
Looking for vendors for household items, crafts, artwork, antiques Information email wytcnews@hotmail.com
Cost for 10ft X 10ft space is $25.00
Set up will be spots in the Northern Lot of the West Newton Station. Space will be a normal tent space of 10ft X10ft.
Rail Car will be open!
2023-09-04 Poker Run
2023-06-04 Trail Appreciation Day and Sale on the Trail
2023-09-04 Poker Run
30th Poker Run
Ride and Walk
(Bring Family and Friends!)
30th Annual
Labor Day Poker Run
On the Great
Allegheny Passage
Sponsored by the
Westmoreland Yough Trail Chapter
The event will start at the Arthur H. King Access Area of the WYTC section of the GAP in West Newton. Proceeds from this fundraiser will be used by trail volunteers to maintain, preserve and enhance the Westmoreland County section of the Great Allegheny Passage.
This event is sponsored and supported by various area merchants. This event is NOT A RACE! Participants walk or bike ride at their own pace, to checkpoints throughout the course where they pick up a playing card. At the end of the event, each poker hand is tallied and the person with the best hand in each category receives a prize. Raffle prizes will be available after 10:00 AM. At 11:00 AM the winners of the best hands in all events will be announced along with the winner of the bike and the 50/50 drawing.
Event takes place on the Great Allegheny Passage
NON-COMPETITIVE EVENTS
Bike - 12 miles level
Bike - 20 miles endurance
Walk/Jog/Wheelchair optional - 4 miles
8:00 AM - Packet Pick-Up & Race Day Registration
8:30 AM - Event Start
More information coming soon.
Editorial: Closing a gap in the gap
A 2022 study by Andrew Herr, an economics professor at St. Vincent College, estimates that the trail receives about 1.4 million visits each year, and about 200,000 people ride all the way from one end to the other. That means about a third of the population of Pittsburgh takes the trek from Maryland to the Point every year — and use increases about 10% per year.
The annual economic impact of $120 million has been especially welcome in Appalachian towns long-since bypassed by interstates. The GAP is more than a trail; it’s an economic lifeline.
THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
FEB 4, 2023