Laurel Highlands PA

The Laurel Highlands is hustling and bustling with bikers, hikers, families, rafters, and foodies during the day, but what outdoorsy activity can you do once the sun goes down? Get lost in the stars! While there aren’t any dark sky sites in the region, we know a few spots where there is minimal light pollution and not too much tree coverage, making it a great place to get a mesmerizing view of the constellations.

Laurel Hill State Park

Like all state parks in the Laurel Highlands, Laurel Hill State Park closes at dusk, but they still want you to enjoy the beautiful view of the stars. If you want to stargaze in the large parking lot near Laurel Hill Lake, just give the park office a heads up by calling them and providing the make and model of your vehicle and you’re good to go! Laurel Hill sits at a high elevation and has little light pollution, making it a great stargazing spot. This would be a perfect way to end a day exploring the spectacular state park!

Forbes State Forest

Gather your friends, head to Forbes State Forest, and hang out under the stars! The state forest offers more than one area that is absolutely perfect for stargazing. Where else could you get a better view than the highest point in the entire state? Mount Davis may require a little bit of a hike, but it’s totally doable in the dark. Remember to pack flashlights! Another great place to set up shop is Roaring Run Natural Area, right off of Fire Tower Road via Route 31. The lack of trees in this area gives you a big wide open to lay on your back and take it all in.

The Historic Summit Inn Resort

The Historic Summit Inn Resort is one of the best locations to watch the sunset in the Laurel Highlands. One of the only remaining grand porch hotels in America, the Summit has an amazing great veranda front porch. Get there early and enjoy dinner before starting your stargazing adventure with an incredible view of the astounding sunset.

Vin de Matrix Winery

As if the name doesn’t give it away, Vin de Matrix Winery in Rockwood is completely celestially themed! The winery’s name was inspired by the star Vindemiatrix, the third brightest star located in the Virgo constellation, which means “the grape gatherer.” While you can’t stargaze here, you can grab a bottle of Cosmic Cord, Sirius Red, or Beetlejuice Berry to enjoy wherever you’re laid back staring at the night sky!

Campgrounds

Make your outdoorsy outing complete by sleeping under the stars at a campground. If you’re feeling adventurous, sleep outside of the tent or play it safe and rent a cozy cabin. Regardless, you’ll have a great view of the sky with the sound of the fire crackling nearby.

Tips and Tricks:

• Many state parks and organizations host special events like night hikes, sunset snowshoeing, and educational outings. Keep your eyes peeled for outdoor events as they are announced.
• Google a meteor shower schedule and mark dates in your calendar. During the Perseids meteor shower in August, you can see up to 60 meteors per hour!
• While full and super moons are fascinating, new moons are just as gorgeous. Even natural light hides the stars, so new moons show off layers and layers of glistening stars you couldn’t see any on another day!
• State parks close at dusk, even their parking lots. Please abide by this rule!

Vickie and Mike Baker have owned Maple Bottom Farm in Dawson for 5 years, raising chickens, milking cows, and processing cheese. The couple shares a passion to educate others on agriculture and dairy, so they do just that by providing farm tours to visitors. They also have a beautiful farmhouse bed and breakfast on site, offering a serene place for visitors to rest and wake up to the sounds of the roosters, alerting them to start their day exploring the Laurel Highlands. The property proves to be a must-visit destination in the Laurel Highlands, but the farm’s sunflower maze is the crown jewel of the farm.

Spanning across 10 acres on Maple Bottom Farm, the sunflower maze is open every day besides Mondays until Labor Day. Their hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. This year, the farm planted more than 300,000 sunflower seeds across the 10 acres, including 2 acres of orange (autumn beauty) sunflowers that grow multiple blooms per stem. Throughout the maze, you will find multiple props like a 1950s gliders bench, hay bales topped with saddles, and vintage photo frames, making plenty of photo opportunities with a beautiful backdrop.

After a walk through the maze, you’ll probably work up an appetite. During the week, Maple Bottom Farm sells cheese curds, ice cream, and milkshakes made from their own dairy products, and on weekends, you can find a food truck parked on the property. If you prefer to pack a lunch, you can catch some shade under the pavilion and enjoy the views while eating your meal.

Sunflowers aren’t the only flowers blanketing the farmland. This year, Maple Bottom Farm planted 26 pounds of zinnia seeds, resulting in millions of zinnias blooming across two-and-a-half acres. The colorful zinnias stand at 2- to 3-feet tall and attract swarms of beautiful butterflies. On Wednesday mornings, those who pre-register can pick up a 9-quart bucket of sunflowers, zinnias, or a combination of both!

There’s something romantic about a field of sunflowers, right? Plan your next date night at Maple Bottom Farm with an intimate picnic in the sunflowers, which includes admission to the sunflower field, seating, silverware, stemware, blankets, pillows, a cheese board, and a mason jar filled with fresh flowers that are yours to take home. Feel free to bring your own food and beverages to enjoy during your date night, they’ll have a bucket of ice waiting for you!

There will be no shortage of photo opportunities during your visit to Maple Bottom Farm, so they’re challenging you to a photo contest! Catch a butterfly in the zinnias or a goldfinch in the sunflowers, snap a pic and submit your photos to Maple Bottom Farm via Facebook Messenger! The deadline to enter is September 10, and the top photos in each category will be posted on Facebook for everybody to vote for their favorite! Each winner will receive a $100 gift certificate to the Farmhouse Bed and Breakfast.

Although the sunflower maze will only be open until Labor Day, Maple Bottom Farm has big plans for this fall! Keep an eye on their website and Facebook to catch dates for farm-to-table dinners, trunk or treat, movie on the barn nights, and a fall festival complete with pumpkin picking and wagon rides.

With new blooms popping up every two weeks and props rotating in and out of the maze, no two visits to Maple Bottom Farm are the same! Regardless of when you visit, the immense beauty of the vast farmland is something you won’t soon forget.

“Sometimes we take the beauty that surrounds us for granted, and we are grateful that we can share it with other people.” – Vickie Baker

All photos were provided by Maple Bottom Farm.

The natural beauty of the Laurel Highlands is stunning any time of year. With so many of us spending more and more time outside, exploring new nooks and crannies of our great outdoors, it got me thinking about the region’s array of fascinating flowers and wildlife. I’m certainly no botanist, naturalist, or biologist, so I reached out to the professionals – Kim Peck, Environmental Education Specialist at Laurel Hill State Park Complex, and Rachael Mahony, Environmental Education Specialist at Forbes State Forest, for some help identifying and interpreting some of the coolest creatures in our region.

If you do encounter any of these special treasures while exploring the Laurel Highlands, please do not touch them. Give them space and admire from afar.

FLORA

Snow Trillium

Sometimes called the “Queen of Spring,” the snow trillium begins to peek out in late March and early April, making it one of the first flowers to bloom each spring. The snow trillium is a graceful, but hardy flower to behold that can be found near steep stream valley slopes with lots of limestone. Look but please don’t touch these graceful beauties. Picking the flower will kill the plant.

Mountain Laurel

Pennsylvania’s state flower, mountain laurel, is abundant in the Laurel Highlands! The beautiful shrub keeps its foliage year-round, but keep an eye out in May and June for umbrella-like flowers that range in color from white to pink, with unique purple markings. Want to see the spring flowers yourself? Lucky for you, they can be found in many Laurel Highlands state parks and forests and on Fallingwater‘s property!

Sugar Maples

Sugar maples pull double duty in the Laurel Highlands – tasty maple syrup and stunning fall foliage.

In order to produce maple sugar for syrup, there needs to be an abundance of maple trees and the perfect climate – a la the Laurel Highlands! Springtime weather in the region is ideal because of its cold nights and warm days. That alternating weather cycle, from freezing to thawing, is what changes the atmospheric pressure in the trees to allow the sap to flow out of them. Visitors can find Somerset County maple syrup at local farmers’ markets and the sugar camps where it is produced.

In the fall, the darling sugar maples use their abundant natural sugar in combination with rainfall and sunlight to create some of the most amazing fall foliage. Sugar maples often turn a fiery red or majestic orange when in their peak.

Purple Pitcherplants

The Purple Pitcherplant didn’t always call Spruce Flats Bog “home.” Once upon a time, Spruce Flats Bog was once a virgin hemlock forest and in the late 1800s/early 1900s these trees were harvested leaving the area barren. Rainwater began to collect due to the unique underground geology of impermeable sandstone which helped the area to fill like a bowl, resulting in a bog.

Bogs are nutrient-poor because water typically doesn’t actively flow in and out, rather the water in the bog is from precipitation, such as rain or snow – this decreases oxygen. Low oxygen and cold water slow rates of plant decomposition which creates an acidic environment within a bog, in most cases. Spruce flats bog is unique in that there is a small water source that feeds into the bog which makes the water less acidic than the typical bog.

In the mid-1950s, purple pitcherplants were transplanted to the bog by the Westmoreland Botanical Society.  Native to Pennsylvania and much of the Northeastern US, the purple pitcherplant gets its name from the ‘vase-like’ shape of its leaves. Flowers extend above the leaves and bloom during the summer.

Pitcherplants are carnivorous plants that consume insects by luring in prey, trapping it, and consuming it. The insects are trapped in the vase-like leaves and are unable to escape the slippery, hairy interior of the leaves. At the bottom of the ‘vase’ are digestive enzymes that will break down the insect and nutrients with be absorbed by the plant.

Purple Fringeless Orchid

Orchids do grow in Pennsylvania! The Purple Fringeless Orchid is very rare. It is listed as a threatened species in PA. This orchid blooms in July and August and is pollinated by moths and butterflies. It prefers marshy meadows with acidic soil. It is only found in a few counties and currently occurs in both Fayette and Somerset Counties. We do not release the specific location of this orchid to ensure that it remains protected and a part of the fascinating flora of Pennsylvania.

FAUNA

Vernal Pools

Vernal pools are usually temporary puddles or ponds of water that are used by amphibians for breeding.  The pools come alive in early spring.  The sounds of frogs and toads are quirky and unique to each species.  It is super fun to know where the pools typically exist in the area and explore them each spring.  You can take in the sometimes deafening sounds of amphibians welcoming warmer weather and potential mates.

White Tail Deer

An interesting and important fact about the White-tailed Deer is related to mother deer and new fawns. New fawns are born in late May and early June. The fawns will drink mother’s milk for the first part of their lives. Mother deer need to forage for their own food and keep healthy in order to feed and care for her fawn. She does not take the fawn with her to forage, but instead leaves it in a safe place, hidden in high grass, to rest until she returns. The fawn remains still and scentless to detract from any predators knowing its location.  If you see a small fawn curled in a field please leave it alone. Never touch a fawn! Observe from a distance and allow it to rest and wait for its mother’s return.

American Woodcock

This migratory game species is known by unique names like “timberdoodle” and “bog sucker.”  They eat primarily earthworms. The long bill is perfectly suited to gather earthworms and their large eyes keep a lookout for predators while they are eating.  Their late winter/early spring arrival to Pennsylvania breeding grounds brings a fun courtship display performed by the male woodcock.

The woodcock prefers at least a quarter acre of somewhat soggy open field with surrounding forest for its display. The male will sit on the ground and make an audible “peeeent” sound to begin the display. It sounds like an insect. Then the woodcock will take flight and fly 200 to 300 feet in the air while its wings whistle. Then it will spiral back to the field while making a chirping/gurgling sound. Again it will “peeeent” a few more times and repeat. This typically lasts for one-half hour to an hour at dusk and sometimes at dawn. The courtship begins in early March and continues through mid-May.

Brook Trout

The Brook Trout is the only species of native trout found in the Laurel Highlands. These sensitive fish require pristine streams full of macroinvertebrate life and high-quality cold water streams in order to thrive.

Mountain laurel is in bloom in the Laurel Highlands! The shrub keeps its foliage year-round, but keep an eye out in May and June for umbrella-like flowers that range in color from white to pink, with unique purple markings. Not only is mountain-laurel absolutely beautiful, but it is also Pennsylvania’s state flower and can be found all over the Laurel Highlands. Want to see the spring flowers yourself? Lucky for you, they can be found right in your backyard!

Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail/Laurel Ridge State Park

While a backpacker or day-hiker can find many opportunities to gaze at the glory of this unique and beautiful plant, one of the best spots to view mountain-laurel on the entire Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail is via the Route 30 trailhead just outside of Ligonier. If you park at the trailhead parking lot, you’ll see the lovely flora right away. You can hike north or south to see blooms lining the trails at a few different points.

Forbes State Forest and Laurel Mountain State Park

Close by the Route 30 trailhead is Forbes State Forest/Laurel Mountain. This area is renowned for hiking, mountain biking, and when conditions provide, excellent cross-country skiing. But in June, it is where hikers and bikers can take in the beautiful sights and sounds of a high elevation forest. Explore the Rocky Gap, Wolf Rocks, and Silvermine Trails for the best chances to see mountain-laurel in bloom! Bonus points: visit nearby Spruce Flats Bog and Linn Run State Park for even more unique and gorgeous scenery!

Ohiopyle State Park

A local gem and beautiful trail offering a nice loop hike or mountain bike ride past large rock outcroppings, beautiful overlooks, and remnants of homesteads. Find the best display of mountain-laurel from the top of the loop from Fire Tower Road, or via a steep climb from the McCune Trailhead.

Quebec Run in Forbes State Forest

A great place to get off the beaten path, Quebec Run offers a variety of trails known for hiking, mountain biking, and trail running. These trails are challenging and this is an area where you are less likely to run into other trail users. Enjoy the lush rhododendron and peaks of mountain-laurel as you weave through this rugged landscape.

Fallingwater

Check two things off of your bucket list by viewing mountain-laurel at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater! It’s only perfect that this beautiful flower can be found in the surrounding landscape of the architectural masterpiece. As if Fallingwater wasn’t picturesque enough!

If you’re a horror movie fan, you’ve seen “The Silence of the Lambs.” But did you know that there’s a filming location from the movie right in your backyard? For the first time ever, Buffalo Bill’s House in Perryopolis is open to the public as a boutique accommodation and cinematic destination. Your reservation in the 111-year-old Queen Anne Victorian house gives you exclusive access to the entire property, making it a private, immersive experience.

The new owner of the house, Chris Rowan, came across an article about the house being for sale and had what he describes as a lightbulb moment. As a horror fan and art director by trade, he knew that he had the passion, knowledge, and experience to turn the house into a filming location like no other.

Despite there only being 15 to 20 minutes of footage at the house featured in the movie, the cast and crew spent more than 7 weeks filming in Buffalo Bill’s House during the winter of 1990. The climax and some of the most iconic lines of the movie were filmed in this house, and Chris has made every effort to make sure that you can recreate all of those moments in Buffalo Bill’s House during your stay. On the coffee table, you’ll find a guidebook full of still shots from the movie and where that was filmed in the house, so you don’t miss a single photo op. For example, the school bus across the street that was never moved after filming or the drawer that Buffalo Bill rummaged through for business cards.

While decorating, Chris treated the house as a movie set in order to devise a concept. As a result, the house’s décor doubles as an art gallery, with pieces of art everywhere, many donated by Silence fans all over the world. The collection includes three mounted and framed Death’s-head hawkmoths, the most recognizable item from “The Silence of the Lambs.” Among the decorations are two actual props from filming: two scraps of wallpaper used on set, which the owners at the time of filming saved.

“It feels really good to know that something I’m doing means so much to so many people. And that’s so important because I get to share this experience and my artistic vision with the same community I’ve been a part of my entire life.”

Buffalo Bill’s Workshop of Horrors

After you get a good video of you nervously and sneakily walking down the stairs as Jodie Foster did, you’ll enter the basement aka the Workshop of Horrors. This is your opportunity to fully embody Buffalo Bill. Sit at an original Singer sewing machine in the nude, chat with the mannequins, put on some makeup, grab the silk robe (provided for guests’ use), and dance to “Goodbye Horses.”

While there isn’t a well in the basement (that scene was actually filmed in a warehouse in Monroeville), Chris has plans to fabricate one in the basement of Buffalo Bill’s House. The resin fiberglass structure will create a forced perspective that will simulate something similar to the well from the movie. Of course, there will be props including a bucket on a pulley with, you guessed it, lotion.

Buffalo Bill’s Playhouse

On the third floor, Buffalo Bill’s Playhouse is a vintage recreation and game room featuring six arcade games, a billiard/air hockey table, a TV, and an expansive movie collection. Along with an original “The Silence of the Lambs” theatre poster from 1991, you’ll find nods to other horror films peppered throughout the playhouse. Hanging on the walls are keepsakes from filming, including personal notes from both Jodie Foster and Jonathan Demme, a call sheet from Valentine’s Day 1990, and the production team’s blueprint of the Buffalo Bill’s House plan.

Living Quarters

Upstairs you’ll find four bedrooms, and each is named after a character in the movie: Buffalo Bill (king), Clarice (queen), Hannibal Lecter (queen), and Precious (two single). Just like the downstairs, the second floor is decorated with period-correct furniture and tasteful Silence accents. When you stay at Buffalo Bill’s House, you’ll receive a few complimentary items, including a travel-size bottle of Buffalo Bill’s House’s signature Skin Suit Soft lotion. Full-sized bottles of the lotion, along with branded shirts and face masks are available for purchase at checkout when reserving your stay!

The property offers so much more outside, including a gazebo, koi pond, pergola with a barbecue grill, a fire pit, an in-ground pool, and more! Chris has long-term plans for the garage and train conductor car on the property, but we won’t give that secret away just yet. In the future, Buffalo Bill’s House also hopes to offer limited guided tours, Hannibal-inspired dinner parties, celebrity engagements, and more. With many other horror film locations in the region, Buffalo Bill’s House is the perfect place for horror film buffs to spend the night after a day of touring. Check something off of your horror fan bucket list and book your getaway today!

Learn more about Buffalo Bill’s House on their website, Facebook and Instagram.

The trees are turning colors and the leaves are slowly falling. Fall is here! That means it is now perfectly acceptable to wear sweaters and eat and drink everything pumpkin flavored, right? We know that fall brings a ton of festivals, events, activities, and views, and we don’t want you to miss a thing. Start your fall checklist today!

Complete the Limited Time Laurel Highlands Pour Tour Passport: Boos & Brews!

If you’re a fan of fall-themed beverages, the Laurel Highlands Pour Tour launched an exclusive fall tour right up your alley: Boos & Brews! The tour runs until Nov. 30, so get sippin’! Download the free Laurel Highlands Pour Tour app and check-in at 18 of our 40+ locations, and we’ll mail you an exclusive Boos & Brews t-shirt!

Visit Frightening Haunted Attractions

The Laurel Highlands is a prime spot for hair-raising Halloween horror. At Haunted Hollow, take a haunted hayride to the Toxic Wasteland, make your way through the Milford Asylum and try to find your way out of the escape room. Try and survive a trip to Crawford School of Terror, where the only lesson on the curriculum is FEAR. Cap off your haunted experience with a spooky night’s stay at the Grand Midway Hotel, whose roof is one giant Ouija Board.

Or Celebrate a Family-Friendly Halloween

Do not fret, there are family-friendly alternatives to the scary Halloween activities! Plan a day at Maple Bottom Farm and navigate through the corn maze, go on a hayride, and watch a movie on the barn. Put on your Halloween costume and spend a Night at the Zoo at Living Treasures Wild Animal Park, where you’ll see more than 50 active nocturnal animals along torchlit paths. And don’t forget to stop at Idlewild‘s Hallowboo! for trick-or-treating through Storybook Forest!

Visit Frank Lloyd Wright‘s Masterpieces

Four of Frank Lloyd Wright’s designs stand in the Laurel Highlands, and the fall is the perfect season to see them thanks to the beautiful foliage! Check something off of your bucket list and reserve a tour of Fallingwater. Less than ten miles away, you can visit the mountain home, Kentuck Knob, which features an art collection and sculpture garden. Planning on staying in the Laurel Highlands? There are two Frank Lloyd Wright houses open for overnight stays in the region: Duncan House and Mäntylä, both onsite at Polymath Park.

Discover the Wonders of the Laurel Highlands

If you’re about that outdoors life, the Laurel Highlands is the place for you. There are more than 700 miles of hiking and biking trails in the Laurel Highlands. From the Great Allegheny Passage to the Meadow Run Trail in Ohiopyle State Park, you’re guaranteed to find a trail that is your pace.

Stay at Buffalo Bill’s House from The Silence of the Lambs

If you’re a horror movie fan, you’ve seen “The Silence of the Lambs.” But did you know that there’s a filming location from the movie right in your backyard? For the first time ever, Buffalo Bill’s House in Perryopolis is open to the public as a boutique accommodation and cinematic destination. Perfect for spooky season!

Be sure to use #LaurelHighlands when you post photos from your fall adventures to be featured on social media, on our website, and more!