SOMERSET — The Great Allegheny Passage, a hiking and biking trail snaking through this county’s southern half, represents a multimillion-dollar investment that generates millions of dollars in spending annually.

But it wasn’t so long ago that Hank Parke and a few other believers were recycling aluminum cans, trying to scrape together some cash to help sell their trail plan to a largely skeptical public.

“There were a lot of people who thought we were nuts,” Parke said with a smile.

The 58-year-old can afford to smile these days when talking about a project that has consumed two decades of his life.

In April, Parke will step down from the presidency of Somerset County Rails to Trails Association with the knowledge that the passage is largely complete and successful to a degree that no one had imagined.

Parke, who formerly led Somerset County Chamber of Commerce and now works for PBS Coals, was elected to the rails-to-trails leadership post in 1989. He will remain on the board; Jeff O’Brien will assume the presidency next month.

“I think all organizations need a change of leadership and board members,” Parke said. “I think it’s really important to keep an organization vibrant with new ideas.”

Humble beginning

In the late 1980s, the concept of building a trail on former railroad lines was itself a relatively new idea.

The conversation may have begun locally in the Confluence and Ohiopyle areas, which already had a popular trail. After biking that path with his family, Parke – an outdoor lover whose family founded Hidden Valley resort – was an instant convert.

In 1987, he founded the rails-to-trails group with two others: Somerset lawyer George Kaufman and Greg Chiappelli, who at the time led the county’s Chamber of Commerce and now is Somerset Hospital’s spokesman.

Parke remembers that the trio had “drive and vision,” believing that the Somerset County trail eventually could be a link in a continuous passage between Pittsburgh and Maryland.

But they also had little knowledge of what it would take to carry out their plan. And Parke now believes that was a good thing.

“If we would have had any idea how complicated and expensive this would be, I am relatively sure we never would have done it,” he said.

The rail corridor had been unused for years and was strewn with all manner of trash and debris, including appliances and car engines.

But rail giant CSX made what local officials considered an outrageous initial sale offer: $800,000 for 20 miles of right of way, which didn’t even represent all the needed land in Somerset County.

It didn’t help that, despite their best efforts, members of the rails-to-trails organization had no cash to speak of until landing a $150,000 grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation.

And even that came with an obligation to find matching local funds.

“We recycled aluminum cans and took them to get the money,” Parke said. “It helped build interest, but it really

didn’t build up our bank account very much.”

Little by little, the group was able to piece together cash – in one case, they salvaged and sold rails that had been left behind – and eventually began building a trail. They first tackled the stretch between Rockwood and Garrett.

“There was a good reason to do that,” Parke said. “It didn’t have any bridges or tunnels on it.”

Marking milestones

The first section of trail, from Rockwood to Markleton, opened in 1993. Other milestones followed:

• Around the same time, officials reached a deal to buy the last of the CSX right of way needed for the trail. The total price for CSX property had topped $400,000, Parke said.

• By 1999, about 22 miles of trail had been finished.

• In 2001, officials celebrated the opening of 100 continuous miles of trail from McKeesport in Allegheny County to Meyersdale. That same year, the regional trail system was renamed the Great Allegheny Passage.

• The biggest breakthrough came in 2006, when officials dedicated the newly renovated, 3,300-foot Big Savage Tunnel in southern Somerset County.

That meant riders could trek continuously from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Md.

High price tag

As the project progressed, costs ballooned. In 1990, officials had estimated that building a trail from Confluence to Cumberland would cost about $3 million.

It turned out that building just the 40-plus miles of trail in Somerset County would carry a $22 million price tag. About $12 million of that was spent on Big Savage Tunnel alone.

Paying off

But officials say the trail has paid off in a big way. It has directly led to new businesses opening in communities such as Rockwood and Meyersdale.

A recent study by the Trail Town Program showed that, in six communities – three of which are in Somerset County – the trail generated $12 million in direct economic impact and $3 million in wages paid in 2007 alone.

The passage has seen about 700,000 visits annually in the last few years, said Cathy McCollom, Trail Town director.

“The economic impact is huge and growing,” she said.

Lending a hand

Linda McKenna Boxx, president of the Allegheny Trail Alliance, credits Parke and others with recognizing early on that the trail effort needed regional support. Parke was involved in the formation of the alliance.

“He saw the value of combining the forces together,” Boxx said. “There were a lot of issues that Somerset County couldn’t take on by itself.”

Parke is careful to share credit with many others, including his fellow volunteers and Somerset County leaders who agreed to allow the county to take ownership of trail land.

“Had it not been for that, I’m not sure what would have happened,” he said.

But it also could not have happened without the persistent efforts of early backers such as Parke, who still can’t believe what has sprung from a modest proposal to build a trail.

“We have had people from dozens of other countries.

“We’ve probably had people from every state in the United States,” he said. “And in many cases, they came here just to use the trail. It amazes me.”