The Allegheny Highlands Trail of Maryland (AHTM) is a 20.47-mile (33 km) long rail trail from Cumberland to the Mason-Dixon line, where it meets the Allegheny Highlands Trail of Pennsylvania.
The trail parallels the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad which operates tourist trains powered by a steam locomotive.
The trail follows the route of the Connellsville extension of the historic Western Maryland Railroad. The first section of the trail, from Frostburg to the Mason-Dixon line, was completed in September 2004. The second section of the trail, from Woodmont Hollow to Frostburg, opened on August 24, 2005. The final section, from Woodmont Hollow to Cumberland, opened on December 14, 2006.[1]
This trail is one section of the Pittsburgh-to-Washington, DC Great Allegheny Passage.
A planned and funded extension to the trail would take it through Indigo Tunnel located ten miles southwest of Hancock, MD, within the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. This abandoned railroad tunnel is one of the largest, still healthy hibernaculum to five species of bats including the Eastern Small-footed Bat listed by the State of Maryland as endangered and the Indiana bat on the federal endangered species list. An environmental impact study is in the works. White nose syndrome has been killing bats in droves in the Northeast but none has been reported in Indigo Tunnel. The University of Maryland Appalachian Lab in Frostburg traps and tracks bats at Indigo Tunnel as part of the environmental study and White Nose Syndrome surveillance.[2]