Western Pennsylvania

Regional Resources

Pittsburgh and its Countryside
This site from the Pittsburgh Visitors and Convention Bureau provides information on attractions in the surroudning 12 counties of southwestern Pennsylvania.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Travel: Road Trip
Each Sunday Bob Batz Jr. maps out a road trip in the Pittsburgh region. They are archived here but since he often features upcoming local festivals, you'll want to make sure you read the column before they happen.
Allegheny Mountains Convention and Visitors Bureau
Covering the Southern Allegheny mountains.
Laurel Highlands Visitor's Bureau
Information on natural attractions, recreational activities, dining/lodging, and events in Westmoreland, Somerset and Fayette counties.
Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor (US Route 30)
Take a trip along an historic American highway instead of an Interstate!
National Road Heritage Corridor
The National Road is the most historic transportation corridor in the United States, one of the first colonial routes traveled by early settlers. Generally, the National Road in Pennsylvania is aligned with U.S. Route 40 through the southwestern corner of the state.
Northwest Pennsylvania Nature Tourism
This is a website to promote ecotourism and offers information on Agriculture, Bicycling, Birding and Wildlife, Camping, Environmental Education, Forests, Hiking and Backpacking, Historic Sites and Museums, Hunting and Fishing, Lakes and Rivers, Wildlife Art and Galleries, and Winter Activities. It also includes Driving Tours.
Northwest Pennsylvania's Great Outdoors
This is a visitor's bureau for Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Elk, Forest and Jefferson Counties.
Western Pennsylvania Museum Council
The Western Pennsylvania Museum Council is a non-profit consortium comprised of museums in 17 counties in Western Pennsylvania (Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Clarion, Crawford, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Jefferson, Lawrence, Somerset, Venango, Washington and Westmoreland). It includes museums of all kinds and sizes throughout our region including art museums, natural history museums, living history museums, historic houses and sites, science and technology centers, children’s museums, zoos, arboreta and botanical gardens.

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Resources by County

Armstrong County

Armstrong County Tourist Bureau
Calendar of events, hunting, fishing, boating

Bedford County

Bedford County Visitors Bureau
Located in the Laurel Highlands, find information on attractions, events, dining, lodging.
Bedford Springs Resort
This historic mineral springs resort, visited by U.S. presidents in the 1900s and early 20th century, has been reconstructed and reopens in June, 2007, offering spa treatments, hotels, golf course, trout stream, and trails for biking and hiking.

Cambria County

Visit Johnstown PA
Information from the Johnstown & Cambria County Convention & Visitors Bureau covering News, What to See & Do, Dining, Accommodations & Facilities, About Our Region, Community Services, Directions & Maps.

Erie County

Lake Erie Quality Wine Alliance
Travel this wine trail to visit the wineries along the Lake Erie shore. Includes links to member wineries.
Presque Isle State Park (State DCNR site)
Presque Isle State Park (Presque Isle Partnership)
The park, a place for all seasons, is located on a peninsula (presque isle is French for almost an island) approximately 3,200 acres in area which extends 7 miles into Lake Erie. The Peninsula provides seven miles of sandy beaches suitable for public bathing on Lake Erie. It also provides access to more recreational waters than any other area in the Commonwealth and is the most visited state park in Pennsylvania.
US Brig Niagara
A reconstruction of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's flagship in the battle of Lake Erie.
Visit Erie
A website by the Erie Area Convention & Visitors Bureau with listings of accommodations, restaurants, and attractions. Also maps of the region.

Fayette County

Christian W. Klay Winery
Located in Chalk Hill, PA (east of Uniontown near Fort Necessity National Battlefield) in the Laurel Highlands.
Fallingwater
Fallingwater is the vacation home in the Laurel Highlands designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for the Kaufmann family. It is maintained by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.
Fay-West Online
Provides information on tourist services and destinations in Westmoreland and Fayette Counties.
Kentuck Knob
All fans of Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater should make a visit to this nearby home designed by Wright for ice cream makers I.N. and Bernardine Hagan. Read more about it in the Saturday, June 23, 2001 Post-Gazette:
- Kentuck Knob edges out Fallingwater as more livable home
- Getting a personal glimpse of house the Hagans built
Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and Spa
A destination unto itself in the Laurel Highlands, south of Ohiopyle in Farmington.
Ohiopyle State Park
Located primarily in Fayette County, Ohiopyle State Park encompasses about 19,052 acres of rugged natural beauty and serves as the gateway to the Laurel Mountains. The focal point of the area is the more than 14 miles of the Youghiogheny [yaw-ki-GAY-nee] River Gorge that passes through the heart of the park. Maintained by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
Ohiopyle White Water Outfitters
On the Youghiogheny River

Greene County

Greene County is located in the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania with borders on West Virginia.

Greene County: Visiting
Information on area attractions and tourism event
Greene County Historical Society
The Green County Historical Society Museum has 52 rooms housing more than 10,000 artifacts, all representing Greene County’s rich history, dating from the early native Monongahela culture to the early 20th Century.
- Annual Harvest Festival
  A two-day celebration of the fall harvest is celebrated the third weekend of October at the Greene County Historical Museum with local artisans demonstrating and selling traditional crafts.
Greene County Tourist Promotion Agency
Offers a calendar of events and in the future a visitor's guide
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Legend of the fall
"Even Martha Stewart Living recognizes Greene County is the place to be for autumn leaves." This article from Sunday, September 30, 2007 by Mackenzie Carpenter extolls the fall foliage of Greene County, located southwest of Pittsburgh. Offered are driving tours along country roads and information on Waynesburg and Greensboro.

Indiana County

Indiana County Tourist Bureau
Calendar of Events, accomodations, city transportation, parks
The Jimmy Stewart Museum
Located in Indiana, Pennsylvania (Jimmy's hometown) highlights its namesake's accomplishments in film, radio and TV.
Smicksburg & Dayton
Located in the northwest corner of Indiana County, these two small communities and the surrounding area are home to over 280 Old Order Amish families.

Lawrence County

Lawrence County Tourism
"Lawrence County in Western Pennsylvania offers a tranquil respite to those escaping the urban confines of city living. Located 45 miles north of Pittsburgh and 80 miles south east of Cleveland, Ohio, the county is proud of its diverse cultural heritage, quaint villages, scenic beauty, and abundance of community activities."
McConnell's Mill State Park
McConnells Mill State Park, in Lawrence County, encompasses 2,546 acres of the spectacular Slippery Rock Creek Gorge, created by the draining of glacial lakes thousands of years ago.

Mercer County

Mercer County Convention and Visitors Bureau
North of Pittsburgh in northwest Pennsylvania where U.S. Interstates 80 and 79 cross.

Somerset County

Confluence Tourism Association
Confluence is a town on the Youghiogheny River, upriver from Ohiopyle. The town is named “Confluence” for the juncture of the Casselman River and Laurel Hill Creek with the Youghiogheny River. It offers fishing in its rivers and biking/walking on the Great Allegheny Passage, a rail/trail that extends from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C.
Seven Springs Mountain Resort
Located in Champion, PA, about 1 hour east of Pittsburgh via the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Donegal Exit). Offers skiing, snowboarding in winter, golf in summer.
Somerset County Chamber of Commerce
Check out the events and attractions listed at the Somerset County Chamber of Commerce in the Laurel Highlands, east of Pittsburgh

Venango County

Oil Region Alliance: Tourism
It was in Venango County, 90 miles north of Pittsburgh, that Colonel Drake drilled the first oilwell. Do a "Bike and Choo-Choo", a one way 10-mile guided bike ride exploring the ghost towns that sprung up through the valley and a train ride back to Drake Well Museum.

Washington County

Located just south of Allegheny County and Pittsburgh.

Pennsylvania Trolley Museum
The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum has evolved over the past 50 years from a handful of volunteers and a few trolleys to over 600 members and currently 45 trolleys preserved a its museum in Washington, Pennsylvania. It is unique in that visitors actually experience the Trolley Era first hand by riding the Museum's beautifully restored streetcars for a scenic four-mile ride into the past.
Washington, PA
From the city government
Washington County Fair
An annual agricultural fair in August.
Washington County Tourism
Located in southwestern Pennsylvania, this site has information on Covered Bridges, County Parks, Points of Interest, Services, Restaurants, Organizations, Lodging, Shopping, Calendar of Events

Westmoreland County

Located to the east of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County.

Ligonier
The official page from the Ligonier Valley Chamber of Commerce. Includes information about Fort Ligonier and the Highland Games. Fort Ligonier Days, held the second weekend of October, is the annual historic re-enactment of the Battle of Ligonier, located an hour's drive to the east of Pittsburgh. Includes food and craft booths.