The waterfall is small but it's pretty and a nice hike to get to it. Our dog loved playing in the…read morewater

4.5 stars. The 460-acre Pittsburgh Botanic Garden was founded in 1988, but many decades of time and…read moremillions of dollars were needed to clean up the site, which sits on a former coal mine. In recent years, more plants have been planted, and more buildings have been constructed. The garden now has a welcome center and gift shop, an event center, an administration building, a picnic area, a homestead with a chicken coop and an apple orchard, a log house, a pavilion, a gazebo, an apiary (for beehives), a pond, a bird's nest, and, of course, many gardens, meadows, and woodlands. So far, I have visited this garden four times over several years--three times to walk along the paths and view the plants and once to see the Dazzling Nights Christmas lights. The paths are easy to follow and take me about one hour to walk. The native plants look pretty, but I wish that more flowering plants were included. During my most recent visit, the gardens had 15 Scraposaurs, which are dinosaur and prehistoric sculptures that were made from repurposed metal. Even my husband enjoyed the natural scenery and the artwork.

One of our local favorites! From the gardens to the cafe and the special events throughout the…read moreyear. Staff is always friendly at the door when you walk in and at the cafe. I sometimes go to the cafe to work - although not really set up for this (make sure your computer is charged). I love browsing the gift shop. There is always something there to gift or that I want (but don't need) for myself. I usually end up leaving with a new book for my daughter. Great spot for some holiday shopping for your nature loving friends and family or a gift exchange. Good in the cafe is usually fresh and tastes great. I've enjoyed their salads, kids menu options and baked goods. The gardens are a wonderful place to plan a picnic or just walk around and take in all the hard work that goes into maintaining the grounds. They have a few areas geared towards kids and a lovely pond to sit and relax by. We especially love to admire the local art exhibits that routinely change.

Wonderful park for children. There are a multitude of playgrounds, a splash park, lots of sports…read morefacilities and fields, and many hiking trails. In a strange but interesting turn of events, my children and I witnessed a squirrel in labor on one of the trails. A most unusual and unexpected sight I can promise you! I have to admit we got a bit more nature than we bargained for that day! Lol. My few qualms are these, it tends to be a very crowded place and the trail maps are not the clearest/ most accurate. A big improvement would be better trail maps (particularly with a "you are here" marker) and better signage throughout the trails. Overall though, it's a wonderful place for the community.

This is such a great park! There are a lot of amenities and it is easy to get to off of the…read morehighway. There are a variety of sports faculties (baseball, soccer, batting cages etc). They also have some great trails for walking/running. There are many playgrounds and an amphitheater on a sloped hill where you can catch some live entertainment. The park and the facilities are well maintained and there are often special events like artisan markets. What would make it five stars is better directional signage and easier navigation. There are a few points where you have to go quite a bit in one direction to get to where you need to go.

Definitely a nice park, needs updated a little, like the little sand pit, my kids had a good time,…read morewe would definitely go again

What a great park. There were two playgrounds and a sandpit. One of the playgrounds was very very…read moreunique. The trail was very lovely as well.

I've lived in the area for a while now but have never made it to this lake before. Today was the…read moreperfect weather for a walk so I finally made it here. The park is on the smaller side but does have plenty of parking spaces. The trail is paved and clearly marked. I was expecting it to loop all the way around the lake but it didn't seem to. There were a few trails off of the paved path that I didn't explore. The views of the lake are very nice and there are a few benches to stop and enjoy it. I was pleasantly surprised at how nice this place was and also how busy it was. I arrived just before 10am and the place was buzzing with people enjoying the lake.

This park is very well paved for parents that want to walk with a stroller. It's quite beautiful…read moreand relatively quiet.

Reviewing things in 2020 is, well, a little strange. If you're like me, you aren't exactly rushing…read moreout to the places we normally review. Instead, Settlers Cabin Park is one of the spots I frequent these days - for exercise, for a literal change in scenery, and to unplug from the current day-to-day of working at home. I want to mention early that part of the beauty of this 1,600+ acre county park is that it was once the site of various coal mines - this gorgeous space has been restored to what you see when you visit it now. Knowing that adds another level of appreciation, at least for me! After its history, the second biggest reason I love Settlers Cabin Park is the number of trails available to use. If you check out their website and maps, you can see an overview of the five or six total trails here. Some of them are on the shorter side, others are longer, and a lot of them directly interconnect at different points. That makes it easy to explore more than one trail in a single visit - one day I started out on the green trail, somehow went far enough to get to the purple trail, and finished the loop back to my car on the blue trail. (I promise, that will make more sense after looking at a map!) There are other things here besides the trails - tennis courts, field hockey, playgrounds, pavilions, wave pools, etc. Interestingly, Settlers Cabin Park is technically also home to the Pittsburgh Botanical Garden, which is another outdoor spot I adore. For the trails alone, I consider Settlers Cabin Park to be my perfect escape these days. I can hike anywhere from 1.5 to 6 miles, at any pace that I want. Bonus points - as long as I don't mind the hilly climbs involved, I can take some time to enjoy the sight and sound of the park's baby waterfall. (Some articles call it a mini waterfall, but given how small it is, I call it a baby!) Any time I spend here is always time well spent, and I'm sure I'll be back again soon.

If you grew up anywhere near Robinson, Settlers Cabin is basically the summer spot to be…read more I've been hitting up that wave pool since I was a teenager. And honestly, you can't talk about Settlers Cabin without mentioning the picnic groves. I swear, half of my summer weekends over the decades have been spent at a cookout, grad party, or other gatherings with friends at one of those pavilions, eating hot dogs and hamburgers. When my daughter was little I brought her there through her teenage years with her friends. Always a good spot to spend a hot summer day in Pittsburgh.

It's a very nice place. If you have any physical limitations the somewhat short walk to the falls…read moreis a bit of a challenge. There are a few kind of steep uneven wooden steps. Then at the actual fall there are large uneven rocks you must walk on if you want to get to a swimming hole there. Definitely not for older people with balance issues or small children.

While working in Beaver County I have passed this sign to Buttermilk Falls countless times, but…read morenever had occasion to stop until yesterday. It was a gorgeous, sunny, unseasonably warm March day & I was the first car in the tiny dirt parking area on the left as soon as you turn in. The Falls is now directly across from the new entrance to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. There is a big stone covered with graffiti on the right. After you park, you just hop out and hit the path and follow the sound of gushing water. it is a short distance to the Falls, but it is uphill and it is steep and rocky and this is not a suitable path for anybody with physical limitations of any sort. It can also be dangerous for young children. It's very beautiful and it is worth the hike up. If you're sturdy footed (muddy & rocky), you can walk right behind the falls and it's quite beautiful. Highly recommended for a sightseeing but I'm sure it gets crowded and warmer weather.

Very nice park and community center at the old Nike Site military base. You can barely even tell…read morethat this used to be the Nike Missile Command center during the Cold War. Now it has fields, playground equipment, pavilions, deck hockey, courts, and a large Community Center. They even have an area for exchanging internet transactions / purchases. There are two little libraries ... very nice park, and well maintained... Cheers!

We're in the area to visit Ohiopyle and were looking for some places close by to take our golden…read moreretriever swimming and while eating breakfast this morning at Yum Yums one of the owners recommended this place. After hubby and I toured Kentuck Knob we stopped by our hotel to get our golden and headed straight here. I was worried that being Father's Day that the place would be insanely crowded but there weren't many people there and since there are so many areas to park everyone that was there was pretty well spaced out. We stopped at the boat ramp area so our golden could jump off the 2 floating docks and he absolutely loved it. The water is really clean and hubby even saw a huge fish jump out of the water while our dog was retrieving his ball. This area has benches and a walkway around the lake and there are also bathrooms, pavilions and picnic tables and seems to be quite popular with the local fisherman plus it was so clean and pristine, my only regret is that we didn't find this place sooner because we would have been bringing our pup here every morning and evening. Great place for fishing, family get togethers or for a nice walk around the lake, we're actually getting ready to head back up there now.

I've been coming to Raccoon Creek State Park for over 50 years now, and it's one of those rare…read moreplaces that has somehow kept its magic across generations. My earliest memories from the 1970s are filled with the smell of charcoal smoke at the picnic groves and the freezing shock of jumping into the lake on hot summer afternoons. As a kid, that beach felt massive, and a simple day trip with packed lunches (the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches melted to goodness from the sun) and blankets spread out on the grass was the best part of summer with my sisters and mom. As I grew into adulthood, the way I used the park changed, but I never stopped going. I didn't always go swimming but instead would explore the miles of hiking trails. The best part, though, was getting to experience it all over again through my daughter's eyes. Taking her there when she was little and watching her hit the water and run around the playground were special times indeed. Raccoon Creek isn't just a park to me; it's a constant in my life. Over five decades later, facilities might get updated here and there, but the familiar feeling of the place hasn't changed a bit. It's serene, nostalgic, and always feels like coming home.

Nice and quiet. Surprisingly nice mountaintop view from our primitive campsite…read more But we visited on a weeknight after a long rainy stretch of weather which cleared everyone out