Travel Guide: Ohiopyle PA
If you’re looking for somewhere to view fall foliage, you could do worse than Ohiopyle. Ohiopyle State Park is within the Laurel Highlands of Western Pennsylvania. I’ve been to this area before, and wrote about it here. This time, we did some different things! This would be a great over-night trip, or a very ambitious day-trip, from Columbus, Ohio. The area is full of beautiful views, and especially this time of year with the changing fall leaves. We stopped over and saw some sights on the way to and from Philadelphia. It was slightly out of the way, but worth it!
Fallingwater
There are two Frank Lloyd Wright homes in the area: Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob. Fallingwater is overrun with tourists, and once we saw the steep admission price we chose to pay less to walk the grounds and see the home’s exterior. I did the tour at Kentuck Knob and I would highly recommend it for a few reasons: it’s awesome, there is a trail with public art all over the grounds, it’s less expensive and less-crowded than Fallingwater, but you still get to learn about the architect himself. Depending on what it is you want to see, there’s my two-cents. If you want a review of Kentuck Knob, as well as some other cool places to check out, read this post I did on a Day Trip to Western PA.
Baughman’s Rock Overlook
I’ve been wanting to see Baughman’s Rock overlook since I saw it on a blog somewhere. Once I got there, I realized that I’ve actually been there before! In the fall of 2009. I just didn’t remember until I was there on that slanted rock. It’s easy to get to. Just follow signs, park and it’s less than 100 feet from the parking area.
Cucumber Falls
This is a great little spot, and if you get up to the top, it’s quite scary to look down below. It’s on-route from Columbus to the main Ohiopyle Visitor Center and area. Signage is great around here, by the way!
Ohiopyle Falls
“The Niagara Falls” of Pennsylvania as it’s called. It actually was rather strong and loud. Park in the visitor center parking lot, and you can walk a loop that goes around and up to a wooden observation area.
When we went in 2009, it was late in October and the changing leaves were at their peak. Here is what you can expect in late October:
Mt. Davis Observation Tower
Mt. Davis is the highest point in Pennsylvania, so this was a natural for me. (Always gotta find those high places!) It was a clear day, and the leaves are just beginning to change so it was a nice time to see. This was easy to find, and the walk up also had a lot of information about the area and mountain that you can check out before or after your walk up the tower.
Driving through farmland
The sun was setting and the land was green and gold. It was so beautiful, I asked Jared to pull over so I could snap a few pics. This is a great area to be in during sunrise or sunset, everything is hilly and there are views everywhere.
