Roaring Run Watershed Association trying to raise money for trail-related projects

A new project organized by trail stewards and volunteers of the Roaring Run Watershed Association is tackling ongoing parking issues at the Rock Furnace Trailhead in Kiski Township.

The Rock Furnace parking lot expansion and relocation project is underway at the trail on Brownstown Road to offer additional parking spaces and alleviate legal and safety concerns.

“People are parking along Brownstown Road, causing hazardous conditions for cars and people. People’s (illegally parked) cars have been towed from there and have received parking citations,” said volunteer Tim Troup. “I’ve counted as many as 28 cars here on a weekend. The pandemic has a lot more people out in nature.”

The current parking area, which accommodates up to nine cars, is too small to handle the increase in traffic since the pandemic.

The Roaring Run stream is designated by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission as a Class A Wild Trout Waters Stream and brings in “die hard sportsmen” to the area, said Ken Kaminski, watershed association president.

Brown trout are reproducing in the stream and the fish attract anglers and nature lovers alike, he said.

“You get a lot of the outdoors people, and they like to see this in the summer and go for walks. But the road they park on here is narrow, and emergency vehicles can’t get through,” Kaminski said. “This has caused much friction and hard feelings with the public and RRWA and the township. The public doesn’t realize the hazard this creates by parking here (on the road).”

Kaminski said he is hopeful a new parking lot will be available later this year if fundraising efforts are successful.

Kiski Township police Chief Lee Bartolicius expressed gratitude to the volunteers working to make the trail area safer for the public.

“It’s awesome. The RRWA volunteers are such a great outfit. It’s great they’re taking the initiative to assist the police department and the township as a whole. The police department is there to support them in any way we can,” Bartolicius said.

Louis B. Ruediger | Tribune-Review

A path will be installed from the parking lot to the Rock Furnace Trail in Apollo.

A GoFundMe page launched Monday by the watershed’s board of directors hopes to raise $50,000 for the parking lot expansion. Separately, the Eastern Transmission gas company donated $12,000 to the effort.

“We’re hoping to raise the money needed for this. We are not getting any grant money for the parking lot project,” Kaminski said.

The nonprofit association mostly relies on donations from businesses, the public and the occasional grant.

When complete, the limestone-surfaced lot will have room for as many as 33 vehicles. The existing parking lot will connect to the new lot.

“The goal is to eliminate any safety hazards, and this bigger parking lot will allow that,” Kaminski said. “We’re encouraging the visitors, but we want them to visit here safely. Safety is our No. 1 issue.”

The creek is prone to muddy conditions, and the biggest challenge for volunteers has involved old-fashioned manual labor.

“We had to haul in 50 truckloads of shale,” Troup said.

A core group of about six volunteers also cleared more than 50 trees on a 1-acre section of the trail.

“The average age of our volunteers are 69,” said volunteer Ron Hags. “We’re retirees and old.”

Formed in 1983, the watershed association owns and operates the Rock Furnace Trail, a 1.5-mile scenic path in the Roaring Run Recreation Area that totals 653 acres in Armstrong County.

The trail originally was constructed along a former gas well access road and includes a 72-foot cable bridge built by volunteers.

Dire need of repairs

Volunteers are repaving and addressing drainage concerns in another ongoing project on a 2-mile section of the Roaring Run trail, and volunteers are counting on donations to fund the project.

The trail rehab begins around mile marker 1.5 to Flat Run Falls.

That project is expected to cost around $122,000. A grant awarded by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will cover $86,000 of it.

The watershed has a second GoFundMe page for trail improvements. As of Tuesday, that effort has raised only $220.

“These two big costs (trail and parking lot) in the same year have hurt,” Kaminski said. “We do have an out-of-state anonymous donor willing to match up to $25,000 over the next few years if we can raise the funds.”

The drainage issues involve an inability to keep standing water off the trail.

“Water is the greatest damage to the trail because it washes it out and it allows water to pond on the trail,” Hags said.

The repaving component involves adding four additional inches of crushed limestone.

“We would really like to complete the trail project by late fall of this year. It has not been put out to bid yet. The price of stone has gone up,” Hags said.