When you live in the middle of a city, it can be hard to find a way to get away, or escape the urban lifestyle. Not that we don’t all love the hustle and bustle of downtown Pittsburgh life, but a little fresh air is always a great addition to any urban lifestyle.
Because I grew up outside the city, my family was very interested in exploring outside activities. As a child, I spent my time climbing rocks and sliding down natural waterslides, playing under waterfalls, biking through mountains and building our own fires beside groups of tents.
Moving to the city for college, I missed having these experiences, so I took it upon myself to find the best places to hike or just explore the great outdoors not too far from Pittsburgh. I will highlight my three favorite places on this website, so that people in the same position as me can discover the same beautiful places that I have!
The first place I want to highlight is about an hour and a half outside of Pittsburgh. It’s called OhioPyle state park. If you follow this link: photos, you can explore a few photos I’ve taken doing my favorite activities at OhioPyle.
Ohiopyle State Park encompasses approximately 20,500 acres of rugged natural beauty and serves as the gateway to the Laurel Highlands. They offer activity as hiking, biking, fishing, hunting, picnicking, white water rafting, swimming, waterslides, backpacking and camping.
The second place I want to highlight is skyline drive in the Shenandoah Valley. This is about a three hour drive from Pittsburgh, so it’s a little farther but definitely worth it. Skyline Drive is a 104 mile long highway. The road takes a winding path along the mountaintops of the Blue Ridge Mountains east of the Shenandoah River. There are nearly seventy-five overlooks throughout the drive, providing views of the surrounding valleys.
Check out a video I made when hiking and driving over skyline drive with my boyfriend: Video. This trip was inexpensive. Only $15 to enter the park, and $15 to camp. After that you only need to pay for gas to get there! We camped in Big Meadows which is a campground about halfway though the drive. Here we roasted hot dogs on the fire and played guitar. It was a relaxing and fun drive but we threw in a few challenges when hiking to Hawksbill point. You’ll see the view in my video (link above).
The last thing I wanted to do to help our fellow hikers in their endeavors, is provide a map with links to interesting hikes near Pittsburgh. You can see the distance from the downtown area to each of the locations and then click the link to find out more about the hikes and see a few pictures: Map.
Getting out form the city and exploring new places is important to your growth. Being within nature can help you calm down and feel less anxiety, especially when you’re always in a busy city environment, not to mention that it helps you stay fit and healthy as well!
