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10 Waterfalls Near Pittsburgh You Must Check Out

With so many rivers, streams, and creeks in and around Pittsburgh, you'd imagine there have to be a few waterfalls- and you'd be right.

The region is home to a significant number of waterfalls worth exploring, but we do have to note a caveat that many are lacking in size compared to falls you'll find in nearby states (the tallest near Pittsburgh is just about 30 feet whereas waterfalls in upstate New York a few hours away can break 200 feet!).

In fact, most of what we'd consider waterfalls here may only be five or six feet in height in total which are notable highlights when exploring a local park, but perhaps not the sole reason you'd visit a specific park on its own. To make matters worse, many of these are also heavily dependent on the rains such that they may just be a trickle during dry spells.

While the latter still affects even our biggest waterfalls, in this guide we wanted to only feature some of the biggest and most inspiring waterfalls near Pittsburgh. But to hit these, you'll have to go on a bit of a drive!

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Hiking Nine Mile Run from Frick Park to Duck Hollow

When thinking of hiking in the East End, odds are good your thoughts will quickly turn to Frick Park– the largest publicly accessible park in Pittsburgh. But there are a few other green spaces off of these main trails that you may not know about, and one of which is Nine Mile Run!

Although Nine Mile Run was technically annexed by Frick Park just a few years ago, this one is often viewed as its own space thanks to its unique position jutting out from the park south towards the Monongahela River (where it later connects up to the slightly longer Duck Hollow Trail that follows the river). Couple an even more recent effort to clean the waters at the run and you have a natural area that is a bit under-the-radar despite being a part of a more-well known city park.

So rather than include this one in our Frick Park article, we thought it'd be best to feature this one on its own!

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Boyce Mayview Park – Numerous Trails Here (So Have a Map Handy)

It took us three tries to properly hike Boyce Mayview Park. 

The first time we went, the access point we selected was overgrown and we had many ticks jump on us (and our dog) in just a few feet. We decided to explore the more accessible northern end of the park during this visit. 

The second time, the road going to the parking area I had intended to visit was closed and the detour to get there was sufficiently long that I gave up (this was on me).

But the third try, I made it, and after exploring this one properly I do have to admit there is a fair amount to see- just be sure to have a map on your phone handy.

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A Brief Visit to Mount Davis – The Highest Point in Pennsylvania

At 3,213 feet, Mount Davis is recognized as the highest point in Pennsylvania. And at just under two hours driving from Pittsburgh, it is an easy day trip to check off this spot from your Pennsylvania bucket list.

But while Mount Davis' claim to fame is its elevation, I have to admit, visting this one may not be exactly what you are envisioning.

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Forsythe Mini Golf Offers Up a Challenge in Carnegie

A recent adventure in Carnegie found us stopping at Forsythe Miniature Golf for an event with our friends from Quantum Spirits. We had heard about this course for a while but never seemed to be able to make it in for a round.

It didn't take long for us after arriving to really regret that decision, as the course at Forsythe is quite fun!

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Laurel Summit State Park – Spruce Flats Bog and the Views

Laurel Summit State Park is an interesting one as it is technically only just six acres in size and can be found within Forbes State Forest surrounding it on all sides.

So while all the highlights you may expect to see when visiting this one are technically in Forbes State Forest, they're often described as being part of Laurel Summit State Park thanks to the trailheads mostly being within Laurel Summit. (The state park maps show this as such as well.)

While this is a somewhat odd naming convention, we're sticking with calling the sights as part of Laurel Summit State Park all the same, and there are several interesting things to see here!

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Laurel Hill State Park is a Favorite in the Laurel Highlands

When it comes to hiking in the Laurel Highlands, there are a number of parks to choose from. In fact, this region is home to ten state parks and state forests that cover roughly 120,000 acres- and that is not even counting the smaller parks, runs, and green spaces as well.

As such, when we say that Laurel Hill State Park may be our favorite of them all, we say that with some gravity behind it.

This park is simply stunning!

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7 of the Best Places to View Fall Colors in Pittsburgh

Fall is a special time in western Pennsylvania. Our normally green part of the state starts to explode with vibrant colors just about everywhere you look between early-to-mid October and the start of November. 

We'll be upfront in saying that nearly any Pittsburgh park could make for great fall color viewing during this time of the year. But when we get out to chase pretty leaves, we have to admit, we like to go to places that are large and give us a chance to truly explore in the beauty of nature.

Part of this is because color change may be gradual over the various tree types found in any given park- peak color is truly a relative term. But the other part is that when colors are at their peak, we simply want as much as we can get. So the parks we wanted to feature in this fall foliage guide are just that- big parks that tend to be color explosions in the fall!

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The West Penn Trail is a Challenge for Bikers, But Great for a Walk

The West Penn Trail is a 17-mile partially converted rail-trail that is located about an hour east of Pittsburgh and connects the boroughs of Saltsburg and Blairsville.

If you've read our biking in Pittsburgh guide, Saltsburg may sound familiar as this is also the terminus for the Westmoreland Heritage Trail where it intersects with the West Penn Trail (and, in fact, biking that trail to the end was the only reason we discovered the West Penn Trail at all).  

Naturally, only a few weeks later we loaded our bikes onto our car, drove out to Saltsburg, and tackled nearly all of this one. After finishing, we have to admit, we're not sure we'd do this one again- on our bikes at least.

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The Ghost Town Trail May Be The Best Bike Trail in West PA

We've been on almost all of the bike trails in Pittsburgh, and have to admit, the Ghost Town Trail starting in Black Lick, PA (about an hour east of Pittsburgh) may be our favorite we've been to so far.

This trail covers 46 miles (~10 miles of which are on an extension trail) from Black Lick to Ebensburg. During our first visit, we hit up the first 25 miles of this route (turning around on the main trail in Nanty Glo) and saw so many beautiful sights.

As an added bonus, this trail was quite an easy ride!

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