Erie trails: the paved Coal Creek corridor or the singletrack

Erie’s two trail systems are run by the same Parks & Open Space Division and could not be more different to use. The Coal Creek Trail is a wide concrete path with a crusher-fines strip beside it, open from sunrise to sunset every day. The Erie Singletrack at Sunset Open Space is 3.15 miles of natural-surface trail built for downhill mountain biking, and the Town closes all of it whenever the ground is wet. Here is how to choose, from the Town’s own pages.

The Coal Creek corridor

Coal Creek bisects Erie from north to south, and the Town’s Coal Creek Open Space along it, 399.6 acres in three units, carries the Coal Creek Regional Trail. The north unit runs from County Road 1½ down to Erie Parkway, with Old Town to the west; the center unit runs from Erie Parkway to Vista Parkway between Erie Commons and the Grandview and Vista Pointe neighborhoods; the south unit runs from Vista Parkway to the Lafayette border, past the airport. At the south end the trail connects to the City of Lafayette’s Coal Creek Trail system.

The Town counts 4.73 miles of concrete, 2.87 miles of soft-surface trail and 2.53 miles of crusher fines, with benches, bins and pet-waste stations along the way. The concrete is what the Town calls a spine trail, a wide path with an attached crusher-fines strip; the Town plows it near its parking lots once snow is more than two inches deep.

The corridor links Coal Creek Park downtown, Lehigh Park, Reliance Park, Serene Park, the Boneyard dog park and the disc golf course.

Where to park

Trailhead	Parking	Facilities
Reliance Park, 900 County Road 1.5 (north end)	Large dirt lot	Drinking fountain, portable restroom March 15–November 15
Coal Creek Disc Golf Course, Erie Parkway	25 spaces plus 3 accessible, right turn in only, north of the Erie Parkway bridge	Shelter, portable restroom March 15–November 15
Lehigh Park, 751 Eichhorn Drive	Paved lot	Drinking fountain, two shelters, portable restroom March 15–November 15
Leon A. Wurl Service Center	Access into the center unit

The center unit can also be entered from a dozen neighborhood streets. The Interactive Parks & Trails Map on the Town’s Trail Maps page shows all of them, and the same page has a printable Coal Creek / Rock Creek Trail brochure.

Rules on the corridor

Open daily sunrise to sunset. Dogs on leash at all times, waste picked up. Stay on the trail; private property adjoins it. No horses, no glass, no alcohol, no overnight parking. The Town warns that coyotes may be present and that water or ice may be on the trail. Class 1 and 2 e-bikes are allowed on Town-maintained trails; Class 3 are not, and no e-bike may leave the trail for turf or native grass.

The singletrack

The Erie Singletrack Trails at Sunset Open Space are 3.15 miles of trail on 49.5 acres of Town open space, built, in the Town’s words, for “riders seeking a downhill riding experience with rollers, jumps, and tabletops,” and signed beginner, intermediate or advanced. Helmets are required. There is a shelter with two tables, a parking lot and a portable restroom from March 15 to November 15, and no drinking water at all, so bring your own. Use is free. Open daily sunrise to sunset, when the status is posted as open.

The wet-trail rule

The site sits on clay soils that drain slowly and puddle, and parts of the network are shaded for long stretches and stay wet after the rest looks dry from the road. So the Town closes the whole system, never part of it, whenever any of four conditions apply: wet or muddy ground, snow or ice, maintenance, or a permitted event. A closure lasts at least 24 hours from the last assessment. From March through November staff check the trails every morning at 7 am and post any change; from December through February they check weekly or as needed. Riding a closed trail prolongs the closure and, the Town says, carries a fine.

There is also a scheduled maintenance closure in the second week of each month, on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday chosen at least a week ahead, from 6:30 am to 3 pm.

The Alert Center’s 2026 log shows wet-weather closures on June 25 and 26, July 8, August 14 and 15 and September 20, each reopened the next dry morning, plus the monthly maintenance days. As of September 21, 2026, the trails are open.

Where to check

Three places, all the Town’s. The singletrack page carries a Current Status box at the top. The Alert Center’s Singletrack Closure category is the full log. And Notify Me sends the same alerts by text or email.

Dogs, walkers and runners

The trails are multi-use in principle, with hikers yielding to bikes, but the Town’s FAQ is blunt about it: hiking, running and dog walking are “highly discouraged” because bikes come down fast and bikers have the right of way at all times. Dogs are allowed on leash, attended, but the Town points walkers instead to the Sunset West Trails, immediately west of the singletrack, as the better place to run, hike or walk a dog. Class 1 and 2 e-bikes are allowed; Class 3 are not. No horses.

Which one, then

• Walking, running, a stroller, a dog: the Coal Creek corridor. It is open whatever the weather, it is flat concrete with a soft shoulder, and it passes four parks.
• A road or hybrid bike, or a Class 1 or 2 e-bike: the corridor, which also connects south into Lafayette’s trail system.
• A mountain bike and a dry week: the singletrack. Check the status first, every time, and leave the dog at home or take it to Sunset West instead.
• Fresh snow or a day after rain: the corridor, because the singletrack will be closed and the Town plows the paved trail near its lots.

One October 2026 note for the north end: the Boneyard dog park at Reliance Park is closed from October 13 to 16 for fence staining as part of a redesign running to November 4, and its water spigot is out until mid-October. The trailhead lot and the trail itself are not affected.