We had a wonderful time at the falls and there wasn't a lot of people there nature was absolutely…read moregorgeous

We went in the midst of a 90 degree plus heat wave, the falls were more of a trickle…read more Reaching the falls requires a nice little walk through the woods on a paved path.

Duman Lake Park is Cambria County's best kept secret. Growing up, we attended family reunions and…read morechurch picnics there every summer, and 50 yrs later, it still has the same simple, unspoiled appeal it had when I was a kid. My son is graduating from high school in June, and Duman's is my first choice for his graduation party location. People, this is your tax dollars at work, and it's all good! if you haven't checked it out yet, by all means, take the family out to spend the day and make some memories of your own.

Growing up in an area, you never really understand what you have until you move away. You may have…read morethought that this was so boring to come here. You may think why are we going here. But when you move away, and come back for a visit, you want to revisit the area. First and foremost, nobody from this area ('locals' as the out-of-towners say) refers to this as Prince Gallitzin, Prince Gallitzin State Park, or PGSP. So stop it, it's not cute. We simply refer to it as Glendale. Yes, that is the name of the lake, but it is so much more simply to say Glendale than any form/combination you can come up with. The 'locals' here have it right, and you will not win an argument about it. What is appealing about this place is the many things you can do. Camping, swimming, boating, fishing, hiking, feed the deer, playgrounds, grilling, I could keep going. I spent many weekends here camping (to note: I am not a camper). With that, it was like I memorized a good portion of this park. When you camp, you hike, when you hike, you stumble upon a lot of the park. But, it is nearly impossible to see the whole park by foot, you will need a vehicle of some sort. The shoreline of the lake is 26 miles long. But there are so many more things to do in this area. Headache Hill is a favorite. Nothing more than a water tank tower on top of a highpoint. When open, you can climb the water tower and view the park in every direction. Uninterrupted views. The marina is a highlight. The "beach" is another highpoint. There can technically be a lot of beaches here. Be sure to check out the Killbuck Boat Ramp area. You can rent boats here to go out on the lake. You can also launch your boat here (one of very many places to do so). This is also where you can feed the deer. It is almost like clockwork. But be very aware of your surroundings. Feeding deer can draw other wildlife and a bear or two have been spotted here. If geocaching is your thing. There area a ton in the area. Hungry, check out Pirates Cove for sure, whether you want a meal or sweet treat. There are tons to do here. Not far from towns to grab items, it can serve as a nice little getaway. And please remember, it's Glendale.

(To show how much Yelping means to me, our visit here was in January of '21 and I'm just getting…read morearound to thinking about this now.  Obviously I forget way more than I remember.) Who was Prince Gallitzin and why does he have a state park named after him? If you're so inclined feel free to skim this wiki on the Apostle of the Alleghenies. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demetrius_Augustine_Gallitzin PGSP is another creation of the late great Dr. Maurice Goddard who aspired to have a state park within 25 miles of every PA resident. He never reached that goal but he did add 45 parks during his decades long stint in state government including PGSP which was formally dedicated in 1965. So what's here? In the trademark of a lot of western PA state parks, not much and that's the beauty of it. I mean sure you can camp, glamp, hunt, fish, boat, hike, fart, etc. but there is also a loooooooooooot of quiet. elibrary.dcnr.pa.gov/GetDocument?docId=1737338&DocName=PRGA_ParkGuide.pdf What else do I remember: - We stayed in one of the ten cabins by the marina. Three of them allow dogs and obviously those book fairly far in advance especially on weekends. We stayed over a cold as hell weekend in January but I still needed to make the reservation two months out or else there would have been no availability. On the other side of Glendale Lake there are tons of spaces for camping year round but I don't camp so I can't testify about that. - If you need to pick up your cabin keys after the park office closes, head to the office and inside the foyer there are ten cubbies where they put the keys and a welcome/rules/map packet. Note that unless the process has changed, the email you get after you make a reservation does not mention this. Either you know, you guess or you'll have no clue. - IME, there is zero Internet capabilities in the cabins. Maybe that depends on the carrier but at the time, on T-Mobile, it was zip. - There are tons of houses selling firewood all around the area. I'm sure the park sells it somewhere but we bought a good bit from a stand a few miles away. - If you need provisions, there isn't much in the area. The town of Patton is ten minutes away and it has a Sheetz and one small store but past that you're probably going 30 minutes to Altoona for something more substantive. - The cabins are very, very nice. Full kitchens, good heating, nice enough bathrooms and it's usually a full bed with sets of bunks. - It snowed a few inches overnight and the park had their maintenance staff out salting and plowing the entrance roads very early in the morning which is good as most are narrow and winding. Overall the park is very nice. Lots of space/trails to spread out and explore on and the peaceful quiet is intoxicating. This one is definitely on our radar for a visit in the near future.

This makes an absolutely beautiful unspoiled walk along the Little Juniata River. Go to the end of…read moreMountain Road, park your car and walk as far as you feel like. I usually do about a 45 minute to one hour walk one way. This is a favorite with fly fishermen which can often be seen in the river here.

I recently photographed a wedding at the Scenic View. The grounds are really beautiful and the…read morelookout trumps all. There's a tower up a long, winding road, but you don't even need to go up into the tower to see the gorgeous mountain view. The landscape is breathtaking, I'm sure, during any time of the day. But we went up at sunset after a storm and it was nothing short of spectacular. I cannot wait to get back to Penn's Scenic View for the view alone!

Penn's Scenic View is such a beautiful place. My large family would go up every year and rent out…read morethe Stable Lodge there. Of course, I loved being with my family. However, I loved going for walks in the area. It's such an amazing experience. Peace, quiet, utter bliss... what more could you ask for? If you walk up this dirt road, you'll encounter a wooden tower on a hill. If you walk up the tower, you can take in the breathtaking view. A full 360° of trees. It's all picture-worthy. You truly won't be disappointed. You can continue to walk around to discover new things. There's a lake next to the Lakeside Lodge. I would always see weddings take place at the lake from the Stable Lodge. It was really nice to see something like that. Unfortunately, this place is private property. You can't just walk in willy-nilly. We rented out a cabin, that's the only reason we were granted access. The place is being sold. It's up for around $1.3 million dollars. Therefore, we can't rent out the Stable Lodge anymore. The whole place is gated off. I wish I could go back up there, just one last time. It's truly amazing. That place means a lot to me. My family has been going up there since I was a baby, and I'm 17. A lot of memories are kept there. It's also the place where I found myself. I would do whatever I could to go up there just one last time. I want to share the experience with my girlfriend. I would pay that $1.3 million to go back up there. If you're lucky enough to visit the 18 acres of pure scenery, you won't be disappointed for even a second.

Just outside not only the city limits of Johnstown, but the county limits of Cambria County you…read morewill come across Greenhouse Park. Technically located in Somerset County in what is Conemaugh Township you will come across this little haven. While driving along 403 you may not notice that this place even exists, especially in the spring/summer months as a majority of it is blocked by the ample foliage. If you do happen to catch a glimpse of this as you drive by you might be able to get a general idea of what this place can and has been used for. But I suggest taking your time to stop in here and enjoy what there is to offer here. One thing that you will notice is that there a pavilions that are sporadically spaced out through the grounds. These can be rented for parties, get-togethers, special events, etc. Most of these have an accompanying fire pit to use at your disposal. Rates for these can be found on the township website. Also available is a playground area where smaller children can get their exercise. The playground area is more of a chutes and ladders type of area as there are no swings or things of that like. What is a huge draw here is the fact that when they decided to spruce up this space they decided to construct rapids in Stonycreek River. Definite draw for kayakers and the like. It's a beautiful setting with these formations they made, many family/prom/graduation pictures have been taken of people standing on one of the rocks. This park also hosts many events throughout the year whether it be for a local boy scout troop, family fun day or Thunder in the Valley (which you have to 21+ to even step foot on grounds for). It's a great place just to walk as well. *Sand volleyball court available, changing areas if you choose to play in the rapids, bathrooms on ground. ******No pets, so don't bring your four-legged friend. You will be fined if you do so.******

This is a lovely area. We had a nice little drive around, and then stopped to do the hike out to…read moreAdam Falls. The small parking area by the trailhead also features an adjacent playground space, plus a nice picnic area. A stream ambles along, and signage indicates that it is stocked with fish. The hike takes you through the woods around to a nice little waterfall, very picturesque in the wood setting. They offer cabins too for those who want to stay onsite and extend their stay.

This is such a cool park that may be overlooked because it is in a secluded little spot in…read moreLigonier, P.A. It has a raging stream, waterfall, natural slides, some old ruins, beautiful trails and natural beauty. It is certainly a hidden gem of this area and should be visited for a joyful weekend excursion. It is especially beautiful in the Fall and Winter, but you can go there year round.

We were driving by when we saw the signage for the Gallitzin Tunnels. Having just come from the…read moreAllegheny Portage Railroad site, we appreciated the meaning of the tunnels and pulled over to check them out. There is some parking available nearby, and you can easily walk out on the side of the bridge facing the tunnel. There are even two small "windows" in the fencing on the bridge so that you can easily view and/or take pictures of the tunnels. There is a real caboose and a wooden play train available in the grassy area next to the parking. The caboose was closed at the time of our visit, but the wooden play train was fun. There was also signage indicating that a museum was available across the street, but it was outside of the posted hours so we did not see that. If you're interested in train history, this is a good stop!

After our visit to the Allegheny Portage NPS it seemed fitting to take a quick swing over to the…read morelandmark tunnels that put them out of business. Thankfully this place has lots of signage all around the area because it's off the beaten path in the middle of a residential area. We showed up right on time as within about two minutes we felt the rumble and saw the headlight of a train getting ready to emerge from the tunnel. We got to the overlook bridge just in time to catch an 80+ car NS trash train right as it came out of the tunnel. Have a sinus issue? Catch this baby from the bridge and you will be cured because not only does it stink as it's going beneath you but the smell continues to waft out of the tunnel for a good ten minutes after the train is long gone. It's sort of a....Gallitzin Dutch Oven. As for the museum, supposedly the hours are Tuesday-Sunday from 12pm-5pm. We were there in the 4pm hour and nothing was open. The caboose still has hours listed from 2011 on the door so naturally that was also closed. It was disappointing that the caboose/museum were not open but it was still a fascinating look at some living history and we were thankful to see the tunnel in action as well.

Lovely place to hang out with nature. Go as soon as u get the chance, I promise it's worth it!read more

I have hiked here in the winter and in the summer and it is like two different forests. It's…read moreabsolutely beautiful and it's only a little over an hour away from Pittsburgh.

Black Moshannon State Park and its 250 acre lake is an often overlooked Pennsylvania State Park…read more In addition to all of the trails and wetlands it also offers a campground and rental cabins. For those that hold family gatherings or other large grope picnics it also has numerous picnic areas that can be rented. We, until recently, lived only a short distance from the Park. Today we went for a ride and came to the Park to relax and decided to have a dish on Ice Cream. I choose Mint Chip and my wife had Black Raspberry. We sat on the porch and enjoyed our food as well as the beauty of the park. If you have not visited Black Moshannon Park you should give if a try. You will enjoy the beauty and tranquility.

I'm a bonafide Pennsylvania enthusiast/knucklehead who enjoys a rush of adrenaline with a hint of…read moreunmatched relaxation to cap it off. Black Moshannon State Park is the place for people like me, and I reckon I'll return if I ever get the chance to meet Phillips Burg and decide to live in his town one day. The campsites, while basic, did the job with ease. I've never had a better s'more in my life in those fire pits. The falling acorns, however, made me have several Sir Isaac Newton moments and even gave my camping tent a concussion. It was nuts, but I slept like a dead dog every night. The 20 miles of hiking trails are excellent, and the bathhouse was suprisingly clean. I'll be back once I figure out what I'm doing with my life. The end.