Alan Case and Stuart Cottrell dreamed of a bike path through lush farmlands and rolling golf courses -- one that would take riders from campus to Bellefonte and back, following the old Bellefonte Central Railroad path.

A term paper they wrote two years ago for a graduate leisure studies course described their vision and prompted the Centre Regional Planning Commission to look at the proposal seriously, said Centre Regional Planning Director Bob Bini. The planning commission is now waiting for state grant money to complete its own study of the idea so the trail can be constructed.

"When I was dreaming about this I was thinking you'd get on a bike . . . and 10 to 12 miles, you'd be in Bellefonte," Case said.

The proposed 3-mile path connects the Toftrees Planned Community to an area near the Blue Golf Course. It follows a path similar to one the railroad tracks once did.

The trail never slopes more than eight degrees, so it is ideal for wheelchair riders, as well as bikers and hikers, Case said.

Other organizations in the country are converting abandoned train tracks to hiking and biking trails. The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in Washington, D.C., works with communities to convert trails and is striving toward a nationwide network of trails.

Bini said the planning commission is interested in a countywide network and hopes the proposed trail will be a pilot project to demonstrate how it can work.

The Penn State Recreation and Parks Society has taken it upon itself to solicit community support and interest by "adopting" a portion of the trail, Case said. The group will hold its second annual Rails-to-Trails Clean Up Day on April 17 to work on the area of the trail near the Blue Golf Course, Case said.

Tom Griffiths, Ferguson Township supervisor and member of the committee studying the plan, said he hopes to enact an "adopt-a-trail program" in which residents would help maintain the trail. Community involvement can solve potential problems with the trails, Griffiths said.

But some property owners along the railway are concerned about vandalism, crime, trespassing and motorcyclists using the trail, Case said.

The study will concentrate on these concerns, Griffiths said. He added he hopes residents will see that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

The trail also runs through some University land.

Charles Brueggebors, director of the Office of Physical Plant facilities planning and University liaison to the committee, said Penn State supports the trail. But the University does not want the path to interfere with animal grazing in fields near the proposed trail, he said.

Case sees many advantages to an off-road trail, such as safety. He also said he thinks the project could cut down on traffic and parking problems on campus, if more people could get to class or work on their bikes.

Griffiths said he believes the project is necessary to relieve parking problems and pollution.

"We keep talking about alternative means of transportation and we do little about it," Griffiths said.