Ohiopyle State Park, Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania

Campground - Gap Trail Connector
Campground – Gap Trail Connector

Boating has been a part our lives since before we were married and Ohiopyle State Park has been a major part of that. It has probably been more than 25 years since we camped here and this time it’s in an RV and not a tent and was strictly for biking and hiking. We’d ridden parts of the GAP Trail before it was the GAP Trail and hiked around Ferncliff several times.

During the afternoon of our first day, we hiked from the campground into Ohiopyle to see if the connector trail was suitable to ride the next day. The trail drops about 300 feet in a quarter mile so that was out of the question. We started with the traditional and got some ice cream at Falls Market and then sat on the steps and watched the Columbus Day crowd for a bit. The new park office and visitors center was next. Beautiful new LEED certified building with nice exhibits downstairs dedicated to the river and boating and you get great views of Ohiopyle Falls.

The next day we set out early for Confluence. The were no crowds yet and the trail seemed to belong to just the two of us. We arrived at the Lucky Dog for lunch and spent the entire time deciding whether we should sit in direct sunlight or keep our jackets on. It was a delight. The trip back to Ohiopyle was uneventful but the holiday crowds were definitely building as the afternoon wore on.

On our way home Monday morning we made two stops. The first is getting to be a regular event no matter where we are in western PA and that is DeLallo’s in Jeanette. It’s a wonderful (I’d say little but that’s not true) Italian grocery that has everything you would ever want. The second stop was at the old mill at St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe. The monks have ground flour here since 1854. We were hoping for a tour but no such luck over the holiday. However, we did come away with flour, bread and english muffins made with the flour. No tour but we still made out pretty well.