Over the last few years, each of the "Three Sisters Bridges," the only three identical bridges built next to each other in the world, have been fully restored. Iron work was redone, rust was sanded off, they were fully inspected, and painted, having these bridges that were built from 1924-1928 look brand new. A restoration of the showpiece of our city here in Pittsburgh. Most times that this city is highlighted for the world to see, usually in national broadcasts of sporting events, these bridges are usually shown. For as important of a visual symbol these bridges give of the city, they also ..read more

Cadogan has created something pretty special with their Allegheny Overlook Park. It utilizes a scenic overlook point above the Allegheny River to create a beautiful little public park and gathering space. We went to this park once before, and the only thing we could recall is the beautiful gazebo. Since then, they have added more historic relics and a brand new picnic pavilion.  We stopped at the park after picking up dinner down the street, which is a common occurrence for us since we cannot take our pups into the restaurant. While chowing down on some delicious Italian food from dow ..read more

The Hillsgrove Covered Bridge is located just down the road from Forksville and Worlds End State Park, in an idyllic setting. It was built by the same builder, Sadler Rogers, of the more famous Forksville Covered Bridge, which perfectly frames the Forksville General Store and Big Mike's Cheesesteaks. Sadler was only 18 when he constructed these bridges in the 1850s.  It is 186 feet long and 18 feet wide, across the mighty Loyalsock Creek with Burr Arch Trusses. It is also meticulously maintained and clearly well valued by the overall community. It was fully restored in 2010, but agai ..read more

The Loyalhanna Gorge Greenway protects a nice section of the Loyalhanna Creek, just downstream from beautiful Idlewild Amusement Park and more and just upstream from where it heads into Latrobe. It is located in between the eastbound and westbound lanes of the beautiful Lincoln Highway/Route 30, at the point that the Lincoln Highway really starts to go wild into the mountains. The section we are covering today is called "Sleepy Hollow" and it is a pretty pleasant place to stop at.  It is a wonderful place to get out and stretch your legs and let the pups go in and wade for a minute. I ..read more

Bucher's Mill Covered Bridge is a beautiful little covered bridge in Lancaster County across Cocalico Creek. For a guide on other covered bridges in Lancaster County, the county with the most covered bridges in PA, check out our guide. This little covered bridge has white portals with red sides. I am usually indifferent about what color the portals of a covered bridge are, but I have to say that the white portals on this bridge really pop with the lush greenery of the surrounding woods. On one end of the bridge, you approach the covered bridge by going through agricultural areas, very much in ..read more

So we recently covered the beautiful scenic overlook at the Route 15/I-99 Welcome Center. Today we take a look from the other side, looking towards it, from the little strip of land between the Tioga and Hammond Lakes, an abrupt rocky formation that is a fantastic place to have a picnic.  While the view is not as sweeping as the view from up on the mountain on Route 15, here you can see how impressive and bold this road cut was. Engineering and human effort in action to harness nature and have it work together. Between the road cut and the giant dam for the lakes, this is a really imp ..read more

Weaver's Mill Covered Bridge is surrounded by agricultural land in Lancaster County. For a guide on other covered bridges in Lancaster County, the county with the most covered bridges in PA, check out our guide.  I particularly like the large stone entry ways leading up to the bridge.  The bridge is 82 feet long and dates back to 1879. It utilizes the Burr Arch-Truss method of construction and it crosses the Conestoga River. Coordinates:  40.141323, -75.997804 ..read more

We have gone to Beartown Rocks before, and I appreciated it even more on this visit. This rock city is very pretty, and the sandstone weathering on this outcropping is especially beautiful and different from other rock cities across the state. Us and the pups had a great time walking around it.  The weathering, moss, lichen, and odd shapes of the rocks is something that is so neat to see. The weathering process in general is such a neat concept and the wildly different results depending upon the makeup of the rocks is a terrific insight into the power of nature.  These rocks pred ..read more

   So March, April, and early May are the prime times of the year to see early wildflowers. As the leaves begin to grow on the trees, the red blooms begin on the maples, and the flowering trees show off their brilliance, the forest floor comes to life as well. From long fallen brown leaves on forest floors from autumn, new life sprouts up with beautiful wildflowers adding color back to what looked lifeless just weeks earlier. I have updated this list with a few more fantastic destinations that I have stumbled across since we first published this list. Late May through autumn provide ..read more

I will start by saying that French Creek, also known as the Venango River, is a treasure. This waterway is as substantial as many small rivers and riding along it is so picturesque, especially in the area of Cambridge Springs, Saegertown, and Meadville. For comparison, the Clarion River is of both a similar length, width, and depth, with French Creek's depth monitor actually being much deeper. It starts up in Chautaqua County, New York and meanders through northwest PA and eventually comes to a confluence with the Allegheny River in Franklin. The Venango name is likely derived from Seneca Nat ..read more