In times of uncertainty....
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When norms are shattered, reassurances are essential. Loved ones, friends and neighbors provide immeasurable comfort now, a connection to the reliable world we enjoyed just a short time ago. As we navigate new paths, yearning for normalcy, know that you can always seek the safe escape that nature provides. Your Allegheny County Parks remain open and free - all nine of them - as we wait this out. Fresh air abounds every day to clear the head and exercise the body.
Caren Glotfelty, Executive Director of the Allegheny County Parks Foundation,
assures you that the health and well-being of everyone visiting the parks for recreation and enjoyment during the COVID-19 pandemic is our utmost concern.
"We urge all residents of Allegheny County and the surrounding counties who regularly enjoy the parks to follow safety guidelines recommended by the Allegheny County Health Department and to review them frequently for updates. They can be found here:
Allegheny County COVID-19.
You may also be interested in signing up for
Allegheny Alerts
,
frequent public heath and awareness notices directly from Allegheny County.
If your health permits you to visit the parks, please continue to enjoy them and the serenity the great outdoors can provide during uncertain times. Staff at the Parks Foundation continues working to improve, conserve and restore all nine parks during our region’s period of confinement so that whenever you do return, you’ll be reminded of all the reasons that keep you coming back."
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Allegheny County recommends the following guidelines when visiting the nine parks:
Engaging in outdoor activity, such as walking, hiking, biking or running, is permitted under Governor Wolf’s Stay at Home order and outdoor areas and restrooms in all nine county parks are open. However, it is strongly encouraged park users observe these guidelines:
- Stay at home if you are sick or have COVID-19 symptoms
- Practice physical distancing by staying at least six feet apart
- When passing on trails, maintain distance as much as possible
- Cover coughs or sneezes with a sleeve or elbow
- Do not shake hands
- Do not touch your face
- Wash or sanitize your hands frequently
If park-goers choose to use restrooms, playground equipment, exercise equipment, benches or other outdoor items with touch surfaces, proper handwashing and/or use of hand sanitizer is strongly encouraged before and afterward.
Be sure to look for signs posted throughout the parks with warnings and suggestions for safe use.
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Amateur photographer Dave Brooke caught that little guy peering out of its nest last week in
Harrison Hills Park
. It’s a Great Horned Owlet and Brooke has been watching the female since late February.
“I was literally looking through 20 branches to get that shot. At first I didn’t see anything, then a little tuft moved,” said Brooke. He uses a Canon 7D Mark II with a Canon 100-400 mm lens, a popular combination for bird photography. He estimates he was standing about 70 feet away from the nest when he took it.
Brooke spied a second owlet in the nest when he got back to his studio and reviewed his prints. He said this nest, which was built by a Red-tailed Hawk, is a bit crowded. He figures the owlets are still a couple of weeks away from branching, which is when they start walking out on nearby branches and taking short hops.
Brooke routinely shares his photography with the Allegheny County Parks Foundation and we are grateful to be able to share it with our readers. He started this hobby about six years ago. He is retired and living in Natrona Heights.
You can see more of Brooke’s work
here
.
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Beat the bunker blues
There's lots to discover in your nine Allegheny County Parks that will get you off the beaten path and help you follow safety guidelines. We've pulled together a few ideas to help you enjoy these 12,000 acres.
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Explore a new-to-you park or trail.
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Raise your hand if you know where this trail is located! It's in
White Oak Park,
the smallest of the nine parks in the 12,000-acre Allegheny County park system. If you've been wondering how to safely venture to the great outdoors during this unique period of confinement, consider visiting a county park that attracts fewer visitors.
Consider taking the trails less traveled! Allegheny County has 180 miles of multi-use trails to explore.
For ideas about branching out to trails in all the nine county parks, download the Allegheny County Parks trail app! Find it in your app store. If you're not as familiar with downloads,
here's
a story about the trail app that helps explain what it's about.
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Same park, different view.
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Discover a quiet trail like this one off Hundred Acres Drive in
South Park
.
If you usually walk on Corrigan Drive, try one of the quieter trails instead. Bring a water bottle and remember that you might need shoes with deeper treads for this type of trail.
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Meet some gobblers and quackers.
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Cooped up with kids? Put
Round Hill Park
in your navigator. If you've determined it's safe for your family to leave the house, this is the park for you. Located in Elizabeth Township, it features a demonstration farm with adorable animals happy to greet visitors. You'll find pigs, cows, turkeys and more. Don't miss the ducks ignoring the rules of social distancing in their pond!
As an added bonus, the Allegheny County Parks Foundation and Allegheny County installed interpretive signage to teach visitors what a day on the farm was like when the Peairs family purchased the land in 1778. Other signs throughout the farm complex offer interesting - and educational - details about the animals living on the farm today. Signs were made possible with grants from The Grable Foundation, PNC Charitable Trust and the Babcock Charitable Trust. Allegheny County matched these grants.
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Search for spring ephemerals.
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As the weather warms up, the parks will be loaded with delicate spring ephemerals. These are flowering plants that only last a brief period, then go dormant and continue their growth underground for next year. The natural habitat for these native species are woodlands and you'll find them off the trails. You can spot Virginia bluebells, trillium, bloodroot, trout lilies, among many others in the Allegheny County Parks.
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Honor your Allegheny County Parks on the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day!
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Earth Day is an annual event recognized globally to demonstrate support for environmental protection. Here at the Allegheny County Parks Foundation, every day is Earth Day, and we are excited to honor this golden anniversary with an extra special incentive,
DOUBLING all gifts made to the Allegheny County Parks Foundation.
The Parks Foundation, in partnership with Allegheny County, plants hundreds of trees each year in our nine county parks. We clean up pollution from old coal mines and manage storm water runoff. We bring new life to historic park features, like the Cascades at South Park. We help preserve park wildlife by helping to build new shelters for our animal friends at Round Hill Park and create new habitats for the chimney swifts.
This year, the Parks Foundation has secured a generous match of $10,000 to help raise the funds necessary to protect our parks every day.
All donations made to the Allegheny County Parks Foundation will be matched dollar for dollar in honor of Earth Day, doubling your efforts to protect the environment.
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The South Park Cascades Restoration
project took a leap forward recently when Allegheny County advertised the invitation for construction bidding. Interested parties can review the specifications
here
.
The Allegheny County Parks Foundation, in partnership with Allegheny County, is restoring this historical water feature that has been closed since the 1970s.
This project will cost about $1 million and is being funded by the Parks Foundation and its project fundraising partners, the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation, with additional support from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, the Allegheny Foundation, Colcom Foundation, PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Citrone Thirty-Three Foundation and the Friends of South Park. The Parks Foundation also received generous donations from individuals. Allegheny County is matching these funds and supervising the construction.
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Spring plantings on hold - for now!
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Native plantings are improvements recommended in the Ecological Assessments that the Parks Foundation have conducted in the four parks mentioned above: South, Boyce, Hartwood Acres and Settlers Cabin. These studies, conducted in partnership with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, identify specific features of each park and recommend improvements that enhance the park's ecology.
We are grateful to the following organizations who provided funding for these plantings: South - The Peaceable Kingdom Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation; Boyce - an individual donor; Hartwood Acres - Patagonia and the Charity Randall Foundation; Settlers Cabin Park - FedEx Ground. Allegheny County is also providing additional funding and assistance for these projects.
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Cancelled: Pour at the Park South
Still on: Pour at the Park North
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The Parks Foundation regrets that for the health and safety of our guests, volunteers and staff, we have cancelled the
Pour at the Park South
this year.
We are hopeful that the threat posed by COVID-19 will pass by May 30, but since that is impossible to predict, we are pausing the Pour this spring. But not this fall!
Mark your calendars for our annual beer, spirits and food tasting in North Park!
Join us for a family-friendly event with food, drinks and live music, with all proceeds benefiting your nine Allegheny County parks.
Pour at the Park North
North Park Lodge
Friday, September 11
Tickets go on sale later this summer.
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Mary Ann Perry has only been in Pittsburgh for a short while, but the Allegheny County Parks have made a big impression. She and her husband will return to their Ashland, Oregon home in June, but she wanted to share her experiences in the parks.
"As a newcomer to the Pittsburgh area, I am beyond impressed by the Allegheny County Parks system. I recently felt called to participate in the International Women's Day trail work event at Boyce Park. The Park Rangers were welcoming (as were the beautifully decorated homemade cupcakes!) and informative and my fellow volunteers were kind and hardworking. It was honor to support a local park while acknowledging the value of women in our world.
Since I found the county park's recreation guide online I have told almost everyone I've interacted with about kitten and puppy yoga! I know great parks and programming are the result of a supportive community, dedicated volunteers, Park Foundation members, and staff. Many, many thanks to each of you!"
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Beware the Spotted Lanternfly
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A new predator is posing a threat to our state and local parks. The spotted lanternfly is an invasive plant hopper native to China, India and Vietnam and was first spotted in Pennsylvania in Berks County. The PA Department of Agriculture has reported that it has been seen in Allegheny County. It's especially threatening to grapes, hops and hardwoods.
The state has released information about this pest and guidelines if you encounter them.
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Project Bee Watch
is a citizen science program to help survey pollinators in Allegheny County. Join a group of volunteers to gain a deeper appreciation for the role pollinators play in our local ecology with this interesting informal talk.
Prof. Matthew Opdyke of Point Park University will be on site to train volunteers. No experience is necessary. Dress for outdoor activity.
When: Thursday, May 21, 6-8 pm
Where:
Indian Hill Meadow,
Boyce Park
. Meet at the Patrol Shelter across the street from the meadow
Registration is required. Email
Barbara Brewton
or call her at
724.327.7627
.
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Join the Allegheny County Park Rangers and the Penn State Master Gardeners of Allegheny County on guided meadow walks this summer. Discover the beauty of
this unique habitat and learn how these constructed meadows impact our ecology and what we are doing to maintain them. The Allegheny County Parks Foundation, in partnership with Allegheny County, installed these ecologically beneficial meadows to provide
bird and pollinator food sources and shelter, erosion control and storm water runoff management.
South Park
Saturday, July 25
2-3pm
Half-mile walk
Meet at the Celeron Shelter
Hartwood Acres Park
Sunday, July 26
2-4pm
One mile walk
Meet at the Middle Road parking lot
Boyce Park
Saturday, Aug. 1
2-3pm
Quarter-mile walk
Meet at the Indian Hill Meadow
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Making lots of Amazon purchases these days?
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Whenever you make a purchase on
Amazon Smile
, select the
Allegheny County Parks Foundation
as your charity recipient. At no cost to you, the AmazonSmile Foundation will make a donation to the Parks Foundation! It's a simple click away.
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Boyce Park | Deer Lakes Park | Harrison Hills Park | Hartwood Acres Park
North Park | Round Hill Park | Settlers Cabin Park | South Park | White Oak Park
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Allegheny County Parks Foundation | 675 Old Frankstown Road | Pittsburgh, PA 15239
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