I’ve lived in Pennsylvania’s Cambria County for most of my life, and each year I spend countless hours and miles taking in the gorgeous views of the creek splitting a hilly mountainside along the Ghost Town Trail (GTT). The 54-mile hiking and biking trail stretches from Nanty Glo to Ebensburg, with a 32-mile loop in the middle. My lifetime fascination with the GTT began with ghost stories: hand-me-down legends from family members and other locals about the White Lady of Beulah, the skeletons of Wehrum, and the apparitions said to haunt Vintondale’s Eliza Furnace.
Growing up, my mother always told me not to travel Beulah Road, the winding blacktop following the GTT, at night. More specifically, I was never to stop at the overpass where the White Lady was said to walk the train tracks in her wedding dress at midnight, forever waiting for the love of her life to return. The legend goes that if you give the White Lady attention, she will follow you, begging for help finding her lost lover.
As a rebellious 16-year-old with her first boyfriend, I put that warning to the test one chilly fall night, sitting along the trail in his beige Yukon, waiting for her to appear. The sky turned blacker than I had ever seen as we waited and waited until our palms filled with sweat and our bravery grew thin. When we reached our creep limit, he turned the key to leave, and the engine sputtered; the battery was dead. The panic set in and we had to walk the trail to call for a jump start. That dimly lit flashlight, the sounds of the woods after dark, and the crackling of the trail underneath our feet were enough to never tempt the White Lady again. She didn’t have to lift a bony, translucent finger or appear in her tattered wedding dress for us to know she was there.
Further along the GTT, Wehrum’s trailhead in Indiana County tells the story of a coal mining community turned ghost town. From 1901 to 1929, Wehrum was home to hundreds of houses, its own jail, schoolhouse, company store, and church. Several explosions and a fire devastated the area, with the last resident leaving in 1934. Although nature reclaimed most of the town after the 1977 Johnstown flood, remnants of life still exist along the trail today. From piles of stony streets to short stacks of brick columns of forgotten homes, Wehrum refuses to disappear.
Deeper into the woods and off the GTT is the St. Peter and Paul’s Russian Orthodox cemetery, where Eastern European immigrants who built and sustained Wehrum were laid to rest. The gravesites have slowly risen since the last interment in 1927. Broken headstones bearing Slavic inscriptions make the uneven ground unpredictable. As a paranormal investigator, I have always felt a heavy, disrupted energy here. One summer night, armed with a spirit box and speaker, my best friend and I traveled to the cemetery hoping to communicate with whatever might remain. The device began scanning. After a few moments, a deep, guttural voice came through, saying, “Get out. Leave now.” It was a voice I can’t forget. We hurried back to my Jeep, and as we drove away, the radio began changing stations by itself and distorting the audio. This continued for miles.
In between the Nanty Glo and Wehrum trailheads, on the central section of the trail, is the historic town of Vintondale, the site of the Eliza Furnace. This nationally registered, historic former iron-blast furnace is just steps from the GTT. Nestled in the wooded tree line behind it, hikers claim to have spotted David Ritter, the former owner and operator, in blackened work clothes. Others say they’ve been hurried along or brushed by an unseen energy. Sometimes, children report seeing dirty miners walk through the bars restricting its entrance.
Whichever section you hike or bike along the GTT, beneath the peaceful scenery lies something darker: a collection of stories, legend, and unexplained encounters that make this trail feel very much alive. Whether you’re walking or pedaling, you may find yourself moving just a little faster toward your final destination.
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