^TM

Laurel Highlands – the green heartland of Pennsylvania

By Vivien Devlin

The great American cities are - in their distinctive and individual way – beautiful monuments to architecture, history and culture. But it’s good to get out of the concrete jungle once in a while. Especially overseas visitors to the US, there’s much more to experience than the skyscrapers and shops of New York or California.

Pennsylvania boasts one of the largest series of state parks in the country. Covering over two million acres, this natural world of green forests, mountains, lakes and rivers is environmentally conserved for people to enjoy the beautiful landscape, recreational pursuits and the peaceful rural life, heritage and culture. Around a one hour drive east from Pittsburgh, you’ll find an amazing, magical, natural treasure to explore – the Laurel Highlands.

Year round this is a perfect getaway destination for all ages whether you wish to go biking, hiking, white water rafting, canoeing, golfing or ski-ing.  For a less energetic vacation, the Laurel Highlands offers country inns, log cabins, heritage houses, Spa resorts, art galleries, festivals, concerts and winery tours.

Perhaps the number one attraction is Falling Water, the private home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. This is named as one of the ‘50 places of a lifetime’ and regarded as the best work of American architecture ever, now preserved as a museum and set within stunning hilltop woodland.  

Play, Stay and Getaway - all year round

The Laurel Highlands is an amazing 100 mile stretch across Pennsylvania’s highest mountain range divided by deep gorges, valleys, forests and fast flowing rivers. To ensure visitors find their way around, there’s a welcoming Wayfinding signpost system to point you in the direction of camping grounds, biking trails and visitor attractions. Once you are here, there are three Visitor Information centers.

The Highlands offer a breath of fresh air through the changing seasons and one of the best times to come is during the winter. There are several mountain resorts – Seven Springs, Mystic Mountain, Nemacolin Woodlands and Laurel Mountain State Park – with snow almost guaranteed until the end of March.

Enjoy downhill and cross country skiing and snowboarding, or if you are not too sporty, take a snowmobile tour or sleigh ride. In January you can take part in fire and ice festivals with ice carving contests and a bunch of entertainment.

If you prefer warmer weather, visit in May when the temperature can be around 77F.
The maple trees are in bloom and ready for tapping - this is the place to sample the speciality pancakes with sausage and local maple syrup. Springtime is the season for fishing in the mountain rivers and a popular time for golfers.

For summertime outdoor fun and games, families will find an adventure playground around the Highlands. The Youghiogheny River offers fantastic whitewater rafting down the rapids.

The Ohiopule State Park also has rafting, hiking and biking trails and rock climbing. If that’s not your bag, then safely on the ground you can enjoy music concerts, theatre events, great shopping and a food and wine festival in August.

One of the spectacular times to visit is the Fall and I can vouch for it. I visited in early October when the air was fresh and cool, the sky painted a pure blue and the trees were turning from green to amber and gold. Plan a driving trip around the region when the temperature has dropped to the 60s for a more comfortable ride. In September and October it’s time for celebration in the Highlands with a host of festivals – arts, crafts, music, wine, and even the traditional Scottish Highland Games with bagpipes and athletics.

All in all the Laurel Highlands is a carefully preserved and protected wilderness for a true getaway experience, yet only an hour from Pittsburgh. Why not plan a two centre, city and countryside break to really discover Pennsylvania.?  

For an outdoor adventure, plan a healthy hike or biking trip along the Great Allegheny Passage, a purpose built trail along the Youghiogheny and Casselman rivers. For something a little bit different, you can also experience big game hunting for deer, black bear, wild turkey and grouse.

Where to stay?  That’s easy with accommodation for all tastes and budgets, whether you wish to camp out, self catering condos, bed and breakfast private homes, country inn or luxury golf resort. And eating out, there are roadhouses, inns, cafes, pubs, taverns and restaurants offering good home cooking or a range of ethnic cuisine. For a snippet of trivial, but fun, information, the banana split was invented by Dr. David Strickler one hundred years ago (1904) at his drug store in Latrobe, Laurel Highlands.  

The artistic genius of Frank Lloyd Wright

The Laurel Highlands is also famous as the location of two architectural masterpieces designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Fallingwater is the only Wright house with its setting, original furnishings and artwork preserved intact. Kentuck Knob nearby, privately owned by Lord Palumbo, is a National Historic Landmark.

"Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you" Lloyd Wright

Experimenting with artistic forms and natural materials, Frank Lloyd Wright developed a distinctly American form of architecture. Every structure he created was informed by his belief that beautifully designed buildings make a difference in our lives and are in themselves a work of art.

Fallingwater was designed in 1936 for the family of Pittsburgh department store owner Edgar J. Kaufmann. It’s described as the best work of American architecture ever conceived, according to the American Institute of Architects.

The key to the setting of the house is the waterfall over which it is built. The family had indicated the area around the falls as the location for a home. They were unprepared for Wright's suggestion that the house rise over the waterfall, rather than face it. But the architect's original scheme was adopted almost without change.

Fallingwater is constructed of local sandstone which serves to separate reinforced concrete "trays", forming living and bedroom levels, dramatically cantilevered over the stream. Wright was inspired by the spectacular natural setting to create a seamless, organic, indoor and outdoor environment, with stone flooring and carefully designed windows so that there is always fresh air and the sound of the water. Fallingwater was the weekend home of the Kaufmann family from 1937 until 1963, when the house, its contents and grounds were presented to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy by Edgar Kaufmann, jr.

The guided tours are extremely well managed in small groups, giving facts, figures and fascinating information about the Kaufmann family. Everything – furniture, rugs, paintings, books - is exactly as it was when they lived here. Around 3 million people have visited Fallingwater since it opened to the public in 1964 – so make sure you make reservations. The house is located halfway between the villages of Mill Run and Ohiopyle on Pennsylvania Route 381.

Kentuck Knob

Seven miles from Fallingwater at Chalk Hill is another exquisite, but totally contrasting, Wright house, Kentuck Knob.  Perched at the top of a hill surrounded by thick woodland and gardens, with magnificent views over the Youghiogheny River gorge, the long, low, single level property is almost camouflaged by the trees. Again, inspired by the landscape and natural materials, it is constructed from local creamy grey coloured fieldstone and copper red cypress wood.

Commissioned in 1954 for I. N. Hagan of the Hagan Icecream company, the house is designed on a hexagonal grid with spacious living areas, open plan style, leading through winding corridors from one room to the next. The interior furnishings are also created from cypress wood - dining table, shelves, cupboards - with thick stone flooring and fireplace.

The entire property is flooded with light from sweeping windows, patio doors leading on to an outdoor terrace. This is still used much of the year as a family home and Lord Palumbo’s personal collection of contemporary art work fills the house and sculpture garden. Here you’ll find some unique objects including a piece of the Berlin wall. The tours in small groups are led by well informed guides, reservations recommended. The inside story behind Kentuck Knob, past and present, is told with intelligence, humour and passion.

The Classic American Getaway Package

This special visitors’ package to the Laurel Highlands is very popular. The itinerary includes an overnight stay at Mountain View Inn which is an Historic Hotel of America, admittance at Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob, Westmoreland Museum of American Art and a private tour of Christian W. Klay Winery.

See website www.laurelhighlands.org, click on overnight packages then click on The Wright Stuff for details on the Classic American Getaway Package. The cost is only $109 which includes a $15.00 voucher toward dinner and a $4.00 voucher toward breakfast.  Visit the hotel at www.mountainviewinn.com.

Visitor Information

www.laurelhighlands.org, for information on Fun, Food and Lodging, historic sites and museums.

Fallingwater – www.paconserve.com

Kentuck Knob - www.kentuckknob.com

Back to TravelLady Magazine