When European settlers first arrived in Pennsylvania, they found numerous trails blazed by American Indians. Most early settlers and traders first utilized these roads, but they weren’t wide enough for wagons or anything beyond single-file trains of pack horses. This changed when the military began to follow the same paths, blazing wider trails that allowed wagon travel and larger groups. The first “official” road built through the state was Braddock’s Road, built in 1755 at the beginning of the French and Indian War. This was followed by Forbes Road in 1758. In the 1790s, however, Pennsylvania and the rest of the new nation embarked on massive road-building campaigns to improve inland trade and open marketplaces in hard-to-reach areas.
Frankstown Path/Kittanning Trail
King’s Road
Perkiomen Path
Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike
Raystown Path
Telpehocken Path
Tuscarora Path
Venango Path
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated August 2026.
Also See:
National Road – First Highway in America
Tales & Trails of the American Frontier
See Sources.


