If the Knox and Kane Railroad's Clarion to Kinzua Branch is turned into a 70-mile rail trail, there is a chance Warren County could connect to it.

At the least, the trail would not be very far for many county residents. It would come within about 10 miles of Sheffield.

Officials in the county are familiar with railbanking projects. The bike-hike trail in Warren and North Warren is a rails-to-trails project.

"The first 3 miles of our trail is railbanked," County Planner Dan Glotz said. "The right-of-way itself is owned by the county. The railroad sold it to PennDOT. PennDOT sold it to us."

The counties' greenways plans - Warren's is in the end stages, McKean's is just beginning - could include trails that branch off of the Clarion-Kinzua corridor.

There hasn't been much discussion of running a trail from some point in the county to that corridor, but it's a possibility. "We have the opportunity to link with them," Glotz said.

He suggested that interested groups, perhaps including Pennsylvania Kinzua Pathways, could work toward a connecting trail.

"They've got some trail ideas for up around the reservoir, maybe they could link to that," Glotz said.

Although officials from the two counties haven't had any official contact regarding connecting the trail systems, Glotz's counterpart in McKean County, Debbie Lunden, also believes there is an opportunity.

"Eventually we will be working with Warren County," she said.

McKean's greenways process will include a look at "where we can connect with their trails," Lunden said.

There will also be groups in Forest and Elk counties that are focused on trails.

The Clarion-Kinzua runs through both counties on its way from just outside of Clarion to the Kinzua Viaduct.

While McKean County is the lead agency on a Department of Conservation and Natural Resources grant application, all of the counties will have committees looking at possibilities specific to them.

The grant, if awarded, would help each county look at trails possibilities throughout their areas, Lunden said.

The corridor is only about two miles from the Warren County line in Forest County and is never more than 10 miles from Warren County as it passes through the northwestern corner of Elk County.