By Dean Wells
It took years to develop, but an off-the-beaten-path hilltop located deep in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny National Forest has quietly become one of the top destinations for mountain biking in the region.
The Trails at Jakes Rocks (TAJR) twist and wind their way around a scenic overlook for 35 miles through pristine forest, up and down hillsides and past gigantic boulders above the Allegheny Reservoir, adjacent to the Kinzua Dam and Longhouse National Scenic Byway. The trails draw an average of 31,000 users each year and pumps millions of dollars into the local economy.
“The numbers have been exceptionally stable for the last three years in spite of the poor economy,” Jim Decker said.
Decker, the outgoing president and CEO of the Warren County Chamber of Business and Industry (WCCBI) has been involved in the development of the mountain biking trails since nearly the beginning. He is also an avid rider.
“The trails are amazingly well laid out and well-constructed,” Decker said. “We have pretty much everything a mountain biker would be looking for. The beginner trails are a nice safe environment. And then you have the gravity trail (the 0.6-mile Blacksnake), which is expert level. The expert trails are all challenging and they are steep.”
The genesis of the mountain biking trails came out of a community impact project created during a county-based leadership education program in 2009. The project called for the creation of a hiking trail from the Rimrock Overlook to the Kinzua Beach area on the reservoir. One thing led to another and suddenly the area drew interest from local officials working on a “greenways” plan.
Greenways plans are used to develop and conserve natural, cultural and scenic resources.
“They were looking at the Allegheny National Forest overall,” Decker said. “They started asking, ’Can we do a non-motorized walking or bike trail to connect various assets?’”
That’s when the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) got involved, inquiring if the planners had considered building mountain bike trails in the area.
“IMBA pointed out that it was a growing opportunity, and we didn’t have any,” Decker said. “That was the conversation that started the entire process which became a $2.8 million project and 35 miles of trails.”
According to Decker, IMBA provided a professional trail design firm to draw up plans for the trail system. “To this day,” he said, “I don’t understand how those folks did what they did by just looking at topography maps and saying this is where this trail will go, this is where this trail will go. But it absolutely worked.”
The natural surface trail system opened in Aug. 2016 and consisted of 10 miles of mountain biking trails. An additional 25 miles were added over the next eight years.
The Trails at Jakes Rocks have drawn praise from across the region and nationally. In 2021, the project received PA Wilds “Great Places” Award. It was ranked the “Number One Epic Trail” by IMBA, and the “Best Trail System in PA” by the state’s Department of Commerce and Economic Development.
In 2024, TAJR was named the “Pennsylvania Trail of the Year” by the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
This year will celebrate TAJR’s 10th anniversary. And with that anniversary will come an increased effort to keep the trails in tip-top shape.
“The problem is when you have 30,000 people riding on these trails for over 10 years, you wear them out,” Decker said. “We want to keep these trails in pristine condition so we don’t see a tailing off in usership. People will find somewhere else to go. We need to keep them clean and safe and challenging.”
Decker said that the Friends of Jakes Rocks—a volunteer group that helps maintain the trails—recently received an independent 501c3 designation, allowing them to take charitable donations to go toward trail repair, including upcoming professional maintenance of four areas that have seen ex-tensive wear over the last decade.
Another project this year includes the installation of internet service at the trailhead parking lot for user convenience as well as safety.
“Hopefully it will help continue to set us apart and keep people coming,” Decker said.
On the third weekend of September, TAJR will host its annual Trails at Jakes Rocks Fest, which draws hundreds of mountain bikers from across the region.