Buffalo-Pittsburgh Highway: route guide

The Buffalo-Pittsburgh Highway is a historic auto trail, not a single numbered road today. It began at Main and Scott Streets in downtown Buffalo and ran south and east through western New York, across the Alleghenies into western Pennsylvania, and on to Clarksburg, West Virginia. Pittsburgh was never on the line: the trail passed roughly 50 km / 30 mi east and south of the city, and Pittsburgh-bound drivers turned off onto an intersecting auto trail.

In practice you follow US 19, US 119, US 219 and US 62, the numbered routes that absorbed the trail in the late 1920s. That means modern road conditions, fuel and services, but also that the historic identity is mostly a matter of the towns you pass through rather than the pavement itself. Use a state map or offline navigation; signage for the old trail is not continuous.

Buffalo is the anchor. Before leaving, the waterfront and the old grain elevator district around Canalside explain why the city mattered: grain arrived by lake, left by canal and rail. From Main and Scott Streets, US 219 runs south through the Boston Hills to Springville, a small town with a walkable main street and a reasonable first coffee stop.

Across the state line, Bradford and the surrounding oil-country towns are the first real taste of the industrial story. Continue to DuBois, then turn onto US 119 for the long pull south through the Alleghenies into West Virginia. This is the slowest and most scenic part of the drive: two-lane road, small coal towns, and grades that matter in bad weather.

Morgantown is the natural overnight before the last hour to Clarksburg. If Pittsburgh is your actual destination, leave the trail at one of the intersecting auto trails rather than following it to Clarksburg; the historic route deliberately bypassed the city.

Late spring through early autumn is the practical window. May and June bring green hills and mild temperatures; September and October bring fall colour in the Alleghenies and are the busiest weeks on the southern half. Summer is fine but humid, and afternoon thunderstorms are common in the mountains.

Winter changes the trip. Lake-effect snow affects the Buffalo end, and the higher Allegheny sections of US 219 and US 119 can be icy or briefly closed. If you drive between November and March, build in a spare day and check state road conditions before each leg. This is a road trip where the weather, not the distance, sets the pace.

Buffalo has the widest choice: downtown hotels near Canalside, plus cheaper options along the I-190 corridor and near the airport. Springville and Bradford have small motels and inns, useful if you want short driving days. DuBois is a practical midpoint with chain hotels at highway exits.

On the southern half, Morgantown is the strongest base: a university town with hotels, restaurants and a walkable centre, about an hour from Clarksburg. Clarksburg itself has limited but adequate lodging. Book ahead for fall weekends and for university event weekends in Morgantown, when rooms fill and prices rise.

This is a self-drive route with no official operator, so you arrange the car, the fuel and the nights yourself. A standard car is enough; there is no off-road section. Fill up before the long US 119 stretch, where services thin out, and carry water and a paper or offline map for the mountain sections where phone signal drops.

Check your licence and insurance cover for both New York and West Virginia, and note that the route crosses three states. In winter, carry an ice scraper, a blanket and a charged phone. If you are not driving, there is no single bus or train that follows the trail; you would piece together separate services between the towns, which is slower and less rewarding.