Buffalo Valley Rail Trail closed between Mifflinburg and Lewisburg for repairs

A key stretch of the Buffalo Valley Rail Trail is closed between Meadow Green Drive in Mifflinburg and Bull Run Crossing in Lewisburg, cutting off one of Union County’s most used recreation corridors while crews resurface the path.

The closed section is an active construction zone, and trail users are prohibited from entering the property. Officials said the new surface needs time to cure, and some of it was already damaged after bicycles used the trail too early. That makes the closure more than an inconvenience for walkers, runners and cyclists moving between Mifflinburg and Lewisburg. It is also a protection measure meant to keep freshly completed work from being ruined before it can harden.

The resurfacing is part of a $1.65 million project on the 9.5-mile trail. M&J Excavating of Sugarloaf is handling the work, and earlier plans called for sections to close over roughly two months rather than shutting down the entire route at once. Trail manager John Del Vecchio said the trail surface had worn down and needed replacement, which is why the county and trail officials moved ahead with the project now.

The Buffalo Valley Rail Trail runs along a former rail corridor between Lewisburg and Mifflinburg and opened in phases from 2011 through 2015. Union County created the Union County Trail Authority in 2018 to own and manage the corridor and to advance future trail development. The trail’s original buildout drew support from the Buffalo Valley Recreation Authority, Union County, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, along with a DCNR matching grant and $3.7 million in federal transportation-enhancement money.

The work comes as the trail remains part of a broader county conversation about transportation and recreation. In late April, local groups were surveying residents about a possible rail-trail bridge connection across the Susquehanna River, and state officials announced $500,000 in conservation and recreation funding for Union County trail work in November 2024. For now, the immediate priority is simple: keep out of the closed section so the new surface can set and the trail can reopen in better condition.