Great Allegheny Passage Economic Impact Analysis
The GAP Conservancy
Economic Resilience
The GAP Conservancy, formerly known as the Allegheny Trail Alliance, promotes and coordinates the development and use of the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP). The Great Allegheny Passage is one of the country’s most popular long-distance biking and hiking paths, winding 150 miles from Cumberland, Maryland, through the Allegheny Mountains, the Laurel Highlands, Ohiopyle State Park, the Steel Valley, to Pittsburgh’s Point State Park. Constructed between 1978 and 2013, and maintained by municipalities and local volunteers, the GAP receives over a million visits annually from tourists across all 50 states and over 35 countries.
Fourth Economy was engaged to conduct an Economic Impact Study for the trail.
Our Approach
Our team analyzed the economic impacts that tourism on the trail has on the five-county region which it passes. We conducted online and intercept surveys of trail users to understand visitor and spending patterns. We also interviewed and surveyed trail-town business owners to assess their reliance on GAP-related tourism, and the challenges and opportunities the GAP trail presents for them.
The Results
Fourth Economy estimated that the GAP provided 1,400 jobs and $121 million in annual economic impact in 2019, a number that will grow in the future and which exceeds the cost of initial investment required to create the trail. The GAP Trail has provided a phenomenal return on investment and served as a source of economic vitality for a range of rural Trail Towns. Public data reinforces this story: despite sharp declines in population, the area immediately surrounding the GAP saw far higher rates of growth in industries associated with recreational tourism than did the region at large.
Fourth Economy also provided several key findings as social media infographics optimized for each platform that the GAP Conservancy has used in ongoing communications. In April of 2025, the economic impact analysis was the chief tool that the GAP Conservancy used with the Pennsylvania Governor to try to leverage several million dollars to address a landslide issue under a portion of the trail near Pittsburgh.
Location
Pittsburgh, PA to Cumberland, MD