Chess Park is a public space in Monongahela. It contains a gazebo and veterans' monuments, and it…read morehosts events such as farmers markets, concerts, and festivals. My husband and I visited the park during the Fleatique, an annual event that featured a 1.5-mile-long path of yard sales, homemade crafts, and antiques. We had no interest at all in most of the merchandise that was for sale, but we did purchase one thing. Anyway, the park looked to have a well-maintained gazebo, veterans' plaque, and grounds. I could see how this park is a popular meeting spot for local residents.

I took my 2 year old here and was really impressed. You enter through a small gift shop where you…read morepay ($9 for adults and $8 for kids). You can buy a grain mix or carrots to feed the animals. When you enter you immediately start seeing animals... Roosters and chickens walking right up to you... We saw baby peacocks that had just hatched. There is a small covered area with tables where you could eat a packed lunch. The enclosures and the entire area are impeccably maintained. We saw lemurs, pigs, kangaroos, donkeys, Bobcats, Tigers, bears, reindeer, a zebra, llamas, a camel, deer, an ostrich, wolves, and several other animals that were new to me!! We all had a great time. It took us about an hour to walk through. You may want your stroller if you have little ones. Mine made it about halfway through before she was ready for her stroller. Oh... And pack your sunblock, snacks, and drinks!!

This place is very run down, hurt animals, not the proper enclosure and facilities. No rest room or…read morea place to wash your hands. Animals in distress. Please do not go here and do no support road side zoos

Finished our stay-cation with a 5 mile hike through bear run. We followed the red loop - within…read moreabout 1/4 mile you lost the sounds of the road and could only hear the stream that the hike traversed and crossed. The terrain was challenging at times with rocks and fallen logs that required climbing. Areas also very muddy that could not be avoided. The path is clearly marked and getting lost would be something someone did on purpose! Across the street from falling water, the parking lot is behind the barn. Multiple trails of varying difficulty. Would definitely visit again.

What a great place!!! Who knew??? I know we've driven by here dozens of times going to Ohiopyle or…read moreFallingwater and just thought it was a parking lot of some sort. But NO! This place is amazing!! A big thanks to Susan D and her list of hiking places for pointing it out! This is not to be missed if you're looking for some outdoor adventure and some great hiking along miles and miles of trails. We drove out here solely to spend a great fall day in the woods. Armed with trail maps we got online we picked out roughly the miles we wanted to hike and started off. What surprised us was the condition of the trails - amazing! Some were pine covered making for soft comfortable walking. Others were moss or grass covered and a few had some loose rock that you had to be careful with. I know this is Laurel Mountain but I was amazed to be hiking through dense forests of spectacular mountain laurel and rhododendron. What a gorgeous place! We were there after all the leaves were gone but we are sure to come back when the place is in bloom or in full fall color. We didn't run into a single person anywhere during our extensive hike ( we enjoyed it so much we went far beyond our initial hiking plan!). If you enjoy hiking and being outdoors, I highly recommend you give Bear Run a try. It's worth the drive!!

The Youghiogheny River Trail consists of 71 miles of crushed limestone rail trail from McKeesport,…read morePA to Confluence, PA. This trail is part of the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) which extends from Pittsburgh, PA to Cumberland, MA for 150 miles then hooks up with the C & O Towpath for 185 miles to take you to Washington, D.C. (total of 335 miles). Mostly used by cyclists but it is also used by walkers and runners. Per the Regional Trail Council's website, the policy is that no motorized vehicles are allowed except for those who have mobility impairments as listed in this article of 2010 and is current as of 6/23/17 when posting this review: http://www.regionaltrailcorp.com/RTC_Mobility%20Device_Policy.pdf. As a disclaimer, I am only the messenger of the policy, not the author, and have re-posted in good-faith that it is current. It's a beautiful trail and very well maintained. On Sunday, June 4th, they had their annual Yough-n-Roll fundraiser to both promote the trail and drum up support for the many volunteers than maintain the trail. We saw evidence of much branch trimming going on. Boston, PA is one of the access points and one we use quite a bit for our starting point. They have plenty of parking there and it takes about 30 minutes from Monroeville to get there. Then, we like to ride to West Newton for 14 miles making for a 28 mile round trip ride. Once in West Newton, we love to eat at the Trailside (right along the trail). They have a great deck or you can dine inside when it's too hot. They have much to choose from and we usually go for one of their salads or sandwiches. Plus, they offer cold water to fill up your water bottle, a welcomed gesture for cyclists. There's also a bike shop below the restaurant that's quite handy. Can't say enough good things about the trail and all the amenities along the entire Youghiogheny River Trail. Worried there won't be enough restrooms? Well, if you see a ball field, there's probably a porta-potty. See Dravo Cemetery? There's a restroom. See a town with restaurants and civilization? They have restrooms. Want to visit a state park and maybe hike or kayak? Well, there's Ohiopyle right on the trail. Want to get a GAP jersey? West Newton has a store which carries them. Want beautiful photo ops? Say no more. You'll have plenty chances to take pics of flowers, water, birds, deer, turtles, maybe a snake (don't be scared -- they don't want to eat you. Be nice and ride around anything that looks like a stick. Remember your feet are on your pedals above any snakes.). Need a bike store? There's one in West Newton and Confluence. Need lodging? Connelsville has a new hotel right along the trail plus there are B & B's in quite a few of the towns. We've stayed in lodging in Ohiopyle and Confluence and were not disappointed. This Wikipedia site will tell you where access points are and where to park: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youghiogheny_River_Trail This website will tell you about the Mon/Yough Trail Council that volunteers to maintain the trail from McKeesport to the Westmoreland County line and how you can join or donate: http://thebostontrail.com/ This website will tell you about the Westmoreland Yough Trail Chapter volunteers to maintain the trail in Westmoreland County and how you can join or donate: https://www.bikewytc.org/ Oh, and here's the website that will tell you about all the chapters supporting this trail: http://www.regionaltrailcorp.com/chapters.html

My favorite thing about Pittsburgh in summer…read more The rivers keep this trail cool and breezy. It's long - you can go all the way to Ohiopyle (the trail is quite pretty out that way), or even, with some interruptions, Washington DC! It's all very green. The crushed limestone surface is very well-kept and good for mountain bikes and road bikes alike. There are stops for water, bathrooms, benches, a picturesque old cemetery. In case of rain, there are a number of covered picnic tables and baseball dugouts along the way that you can duck into. There are wildflowers and groundhogs and bunnies and little waterfalls. And snakes. And an ex-Tastee Freeze that now goes by the name Yough Twister. Hm. The only real drawback is that you have to drive to the trail with your bike from Pittsburgh. You can't even take a bus; the buses that run to McKeesport, where the trail officially begins (as of now) don't carry bikes. There are lots of entrances to the path, most marked with little signs. In the town of Boston, PA there is a big parking lot and some playing fields and rest rooms that make a good place to start. Remember speedy Pittsburghers, pass on the left and hail when passing! Oh, and like all the great bike paths I love, this one has been the site of some highway robbery . . . Because this is a rails-to-trails, there is almost no elevation change. If I had kids, I'd take them here. But I would encourage them NOT to stop in the middle of the path if they needed to adjust something on their bicycles. Much better any day than a trip to Lake Erie. It's also nice in the fall.

We're in the area to visit Ohiopyle and were looking for some places close by to take our golden…read moreretriever swimming and while eating breakfast this morning at Yum Yums one of the owners recommended this place. After hubby and I toured Kentuck Knob we stopped by our hotel to get our golden and headed straight here. I was worried that being Father's Day that the place would be insanely crowded but there weren't many people there and since there are so many areas to park everyone that was there was pretty well spaced out. We stopped at the boat ramp area so our golden could jump off the 2 floating docks and he absolutely loved it. The water is really clean and hubby even saw a huge fish jump out of the water while our dog was retrieving his ball. This area has benches and a walkway around the lake and there are also bathrooms, pavilions and picnic tables and seems to be quite popular with the local fisherman plus it was so clean and pristine, my only regret is that we didn't find this place sooner because we would have been bringing our pup here every morning and evening. Great place for fishing, family get togethers or for a nice walk around the lake, we're actually getting ready to head back up there now.

Beautiful area with intermediate-difficulty trails that are, unfortunately, not particularly well…read moremarked. (We weren't the only ones who got lost.) Hiking shoes, good weather, and plenty of time are necessary, especially if you will be traversing the miles of trail in the central portion of the park. The promised "vistas" on Painter Rock Trail never materialized--perhaps because the leaves were still on the trees? However, we were there for the foliage first, and that delivered. May try again in the spring out and back along the 3.3 miles of Roaring Run Trail. Being an hour from Pittsburgh, it doesn't make sense to spend less than 2 hours out on the trails anyway.

I'm a trail-a-holic, so I know good hiking trails when I see them. It's not that this trail was…read moreabsolutely horrible, but it was boring. The trail was a little up and down (but nothing like we were anticipating), the river was completely dried (even though it was pouring as we were walking through), and there was no opening in the trees. What we wanted: A waterfall, an opening in the trees to see the mountains, and a trail that was more intense. Basically, the Roaring Run trail makes a big loop. I believe we started at the entrance on Fire Tower Road which led into the woods. We reached the opposite side at Painter Rock Rd and the trail made one giant loop back to our car. It was anti-climactic. There were many trees on this trail, but none that led to an opening to see the mountains in the distance. If that opening existed, my rating would have jumped to a 5/5. We did some climbing along the trail but I never felt out of breath or anything like that. Basically, it's a straight shot to the first road, and a bit hilly on the way back, but nothing too exciting. The best part about this trail was stumbling upon an old graveyard. It was creepy at the time because it was rainy and dreary, so the feel was very creepy. Apparently where we were hiking, it had been somewhat of a small town. There was a random schoolhouse which looked like it had been destroyed at some point in the past. The graveyard stretched back to the mid nineteenth century, with some tombstones which looked a bit older than that. Besides the graveyard, our hike was was pretty average. I think I would have rather went to one of the state parks instead, where waterfalls and mountainous overviews existed. Oh well...

I did the nursery tour and it was so cool. I forget my guides name, but he was so knowledgeable…read moreabout all the animals. I think the resort could spend a little more money here on the building. I know it's a barn, but dang for these prices they charge at the resort this barn should be a lot nicer. I loved all the animals. I am happy to see them so well cared for. It's a definite must do activity!

The staff was standoff-ish. The Nursery Tour is not quite as described, "This educational program…read moreincludes a guided walking tour of the Nemacolin's Wildlife Adventure , as well as the chance to interact with a few of the animals, including our kinkajou, fennec foxes, porcupine, sloth, alligator, tortoise and more." The implication is that you will have some type of interaction. However, my family got to pet a Bearded Dragon. Every other animal was displayed by the staff, but that was the extent of your interaction with any animal. You could get the same experience driving by a field or stopping by a pet shop. The animals were well cared for, and the place is clean.

Well organized, awesome guides (Cole you rule), great gear - this place is FANTASTIC!! Cannot…read morerecommend OTP enough for rafting. We had some last minute chamges that they adapted to really well too - and it was all smiles. Can't wait to go back.

Trip was amazing! We were blessed to have Caleb as our raft guide. He is the best. Knowledge and…read morefriendly. This raft trip was definitely a highlight of our trip on the East Coast.