Yough River at Cedar Creek Park (photo by Andrew)
Exploring the major Westmoreland County parks (Northmoreland, Twin Lakes, Mammoth, Cedar Creek) is a completely different experience than visiting Allegheny County’s parks (e.g., North Park, Hartwood Acres, Deer Lakes). Although there are “formulaic” Allegheny County parks, given that North Park, South Park, and Boyce Park all follow the same basic approach to layout and amenities, all of the Westmoreland County parks I’m familiar with are strikingly similar, in atmosphere and (generally) amenities and attractions.
The primary attraction in each park is a paved trail around a lake, or two, in the case of Twin Lakes (obviously); Cedar Creek is the exception, as we’ll get to later.. These lakefront trails tend to be very well maintained, even in the winter, in my experience. There are also plenty of picnic groves that actually feel relatively peaceful and rural, despite their proximity to a road (something that cannot be said for many Allegheny County parks). This is really the key to the Westmoreland County parks and what makes them so enjoyable; they’re lovely, spacious places with gorgeous landscaping and massive fields that can be a pleasure just to aimlessly walk through (assuming there are no baseball games going on, of course…). All of the parks are located in relatively remote locations; accordingly, they’re somewhat of a pain to get to, but their rural settings surely enhance their best qualities.