One Dam Good Trail Race

Tucked along the shores of Quemahoning Reservoir, the On the Dam Trail Race is everything a grassroots trail event should be—scenic, a little rugged, and built around community. If you’re looking for a spring race that reminds you why you love trails in the first place, this is it.

[Note: Friends and the race director asked me to share some info about this event. Apparently, I’m “long-winded but effective,” which I believe was followed by “I have no idea why people listen to you, you jerkface.” So here we are.]

Along the pine-lined shores of Quemahoning Reservoir, there’s a trail race that quietly gets everything right. It’s called the On the Dam Trail Race—and yeah, the name works on multiple levels. Quemahoning (pronounced Kwee-ma-hone-ing, for those keeping score) comes from a Delaware phrase meaning “a lick in the pines”: a place where water rises up among towering trees. It’s fitting. The whole area has that feel to it. Quiet, grounded, a little removed from everything else.

Locals just call it “The Que.”

It wasn’t always a recreation spot. The reservoir was originally built to power the steel mills of Johnstown’s industrial past. Now it fuels something a little different—long miles, trail legs, and that need to be out in the woods doing something mildly unreasonable.

These days, the trail system around the reservoir offers about 35 miles of smooth, runnable singletrack. Mountain bikers love it. Hikers wander through it. And for one day in April, trail runners get to put it to proper use.

The Race Itself

The On the Dam Trail Race gives you a handful of ways to experience it, depending on how much you want to suffer.

• 50K – The main event. Two loops around the reservoir and dam. Go solo if you’re feeling bold, or split it up with a relay team of two or four. Same miles, just shared decision-making.

• 30K – A solid tour of the area. Enough distance to feel like you earned it without completely wrecking your weekend.

• 10K – Short, fast, and just enough to remind you that trail running doesn’t have to be complicated to be good.

Everything starts and finishes at Camp Harmony, which serves as race HQ, packet pickup, and the post-race hangout. From there, you disappear into the forests of the Laurel Highlands and Somerset County. It's one of those places that doesn’t try too hard to impress you, but ends up doing it anyway.

The Course

This is the kind of trail that reminds you why you signed up in the first place.

• Smooth, “buttery” singletrack through pine stands

• Rolling terrain that keeps things interesting without being cruel

• Just enough rocks to keep you paying attention

• A few stream crossings for character

• Soft forest floor that makes you feel like you can run forever (you can’t, but it feels like it)

  
  

For the 50K, you’re looking at around 3,100 feet of gain across two loops—challenging, but fair. Aid stations are well-stocked, and if you’re running relay, exchanges are clean and easy.

"For a lot of people, it’s the first real outdoor gathering after a long Pennsylvania winter. You sit around, drink a beer, shake the rust off, and remember that trail season is back."

Race morning is simple:

• Check-in at 7:00 AM

• Start at 8:00 AM

No drama. Just show up and run.

The Part People Don’t Talk About Enough

The finish line isn’t really the finish.

Afterward, everyone drifts back to Camp Harmony, where there’s a bonfire, food, and that familiar post-race energy—part exhaustion, part storytelling, part “I can’t believe that actually went well.” For a lot of people, it’s the first real outdoor gathering after a long Pennsylvania winter. You sit around, drink a beer, shake the rust off, and remember that trail season is back.

Make a Weekend of It

If you want the full experience, stay on-site. There’s tent camping and rustic cabins about 100 yards from the start line. Roll out of bed, lace up, and you’re there. No driving. No stress. After the race, there are showers—so you don’t have to marinate in trail dust the whole way home.

Why It Matters

This is one of those races where your entry actually does something.

Proceeds help send local kids to Camp Harmony’s programs, and support the Johnstown Running Club’s grassroots efforts to grow running and outdoor recreation in the region.

It’s small-scale. It’s local. And it matters.

A Little Context (Because I Can’t Help Myself)

The Quemahoning Reservoir is one of the largest artificial lakes in Pennsylvania—about five miles long and two miles wide at its widest point. It feeds into the Stonycreek River and sits right in the heart of Somerset County.

And if you’re wondering why Somerset County leans so hard into identity... it’s earned it.

This area became a symbol of resilience in the early 2000s, tied to both the Flight 93 crash and the Quecreek Mine rescue. It’s part of why the region is sometimes called “America’s County.”

Layer that history over the landscape with the ridgelines, the forests, the quiet... Top that with history that forged a county, food and drink in nourish you, and an arts and cultural scene, and you start to understand why people keep coming back.

It’s also part of the Laurel Highlands, one of the more underrated stretches of the Appalachian region. Same terrain that inspired Frank Lloyd Wright to build Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob. Same terrain that’ll brings escape and adventure for so many.

This is the kind of event that reminds you what trail running actually is: good people, good trails, and just enough challenge to make it meaningful.

Final Thought

There are bigger races. Louder races. Flashier races.

This isn’t one of them.

This is the kind of event that reminds you what trail running actually is: good people, good trails, and just enough challenge to make it meaningful.

Simple.

In the best possible way.