Tag Pennsylvania

Mingo Creek County Park & Mondays Brewing Co

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Washington County, PA

If you’re ever craving some hiking in Washington County, look no further than Mingo Creek County Park. This huge park is perfect for all sorts of outdoor activities and is a popular place for gathering in the summer. Our early spring visit was full of wildflowers, families playing in the creek and tons of people using the paved trail. The natural trail can be a bit harder to find but if you check out the blog post, I’ll show you how to find the elusive Orange trail at Mingo!

THE HIKE: Mingo Creek – Orange Trail

Orange Blaze!

Length: 7.1 miles
Elevation Gain: 700 ft
Difficulty: Moderate
Time: 2.5-3 hours
Trail use: Hiking, leashed pets, horses, bikers
Parking: Large lot throughout park
H&H: 5/5

Mingo Creek County Park is located in Washington County and is managed by the county’s Parks and Recreation division. The park is probably best known for its two red, covered bridges situated about 1.5 miles apart along the Mingo Creek. This park is the perfect oasis no matter what your outdoors activities may be! There’s plenty of creek for fishing and splashing around, lots of pavilions to rent and space to have a picnic. There’s a 3-mile paved walking trail, numerous playgrounds, and even an observatory! But for us, we were on the hunt for the hiking trails. Now I have read on a number of blogs and trail sites that this trail is difficult to find and completely overgrown. I’m here to say that you shouldn’t go by everything you read! 

Now, I will say, the signage for the trails is not great. It’s very clear where the paved trail is, but you have to keep your eyes peeled for the natural trail. There are no signs and the trail blazes are very small. We park at coordinates: 40.200415039419916, -80.02756796434414 because I caught a glimpse of a trail going off into the woods. This trail eventually met up with the orange trail and then we had a lovely hike. HOWEVER, if I were to go back, I would suggest parking at The West Entrance (40.1931395787859, -80.05565122282385). The orange trail goes into the woods before the parking area, by the trail sign posting! Now keep in mind that I did this hike in the early spring so it is very likely that others’ experiences of overgrown paths and difficult trail entrances can be the case as the summer wears on! Another potential deterrent for some hikers is the fact that it is a mixed use trail, one of the uses being equestrian. I’ve found some equestrian trails to really suffer from mud but thankfully this one wasn’t too. 

Okay now some really good things about this trail! SO many wildflowers! I was thrilled to find Dutchman’s Breeches, trillium, Virginia bluebells, and so many more. This trail was also very secluded and we only saw a few other hikers on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Finally, I liked that the trail offered some incline changes and was a great workout. Someday I’d like to come back and complete the whole 12-mile perimeter loop! And the absolute best part of this trail? Dipping your sore feet into the refreshing stream at the end. This is an ideal hike to pack a picnic to have beside the creek at the end! 

Overall, despite some of the negative reviews I had seen, I thought Mingo Creek County Park was absolutely delightful and one of my favorite hikes of the year so far. I know that we’ll be back!

THE BEER: Monday’s Brewing Co.

Address: 1055 Waterdam Plaza Dr, Peters Township, PA 15317
Distance from Trail Head: 8.3 miles, 15 mins 
Website: https://mondays.beer/
Food?: Light snacks, BYOF
Details: small outdoor patio, dog friendly outside

So what makes this Peters township brewery unique? I think you can probably guess from the name! Monday’s Brewing is always open on Monday, a day that most breweries are closed. In fact, they offer special deals for service industry workers on Monday, since that is the day a lot of bars and restaurants are closed! 

Mondays Brewing Co. is located on Route 19 in Peters Township. They’re in a small storefront that has indoor and outdoor seating. Typically you can find 12 taps, sometimes featuring other local craft beers or beverages. When we visited, they had one guest tap, Arsenal cider, Apis mead and the rest all in house brews. They also have a small cocktail list for anyone that’s not a beer drinker! Mondays like to showcase a wide variety of brews so odds are you’ll find a new favorite on the list!

This one has been on my list for a while and I’m so glad we were finally able to squeeze in a visit! I’m always glad to have another place in the South Hills to find good beer.

Our Beer:

  • Pink Boots – NEIPA – 6.5%
  • Tangled Aggression – Red Ale – 6.8%
  • Haze Agitated – NEIPA – 6.8%
  • Plaza Beer – Mexican Lager – 5.3%

Looking for more adventures in Pennsylvania and beyond? Check out my new book: Beer Hiking Pennsylvania and New Jersey

RCT Challenge Training Hike #2

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Creighton, PA

Another training hike for the RCT challenge! Let me tell you, my legs were WRECKED after this one. This was officially the longest hike I’ve never done and by far the biggest elevation gain. And I’ve hiked National Parks people! Thank god I’ve had ToryTalksTrails keeping me on task for this training! We’re slowly building miles, gaining elevation, and snacking hard. Has anyone else started their training for the challenge??

THE HIKE: Rachel Carson Trail – Saxonburg Rd to Agan Park

Length: 11.7 miles
Elevation Gain: 2800 ft
Difficulty: Challenging
Time: 4.5 hours
Trail use: Hiking, leashed pets
Parking: Small pull off for 3-4 cars. No bathrooms
H&H: 4/5

Once again, Tory and I did a point to point trail, leaving one car at Agan Park and driving the other to our starting point at Saxonburg road. If you’re looking to do this section hike, here are the coordinates: 

Saxonburg Road: 40.65513180064524, -79.72686400487738
Agan Park: 40.56013506403363, -79.78197053025322

Having done about 9 miles on our last training hike, we decided to up it to around 11 this time! Now this section of the hike is actually part of the full RCT Challenge, so I won’t actually be hiking this section in June. BUT I still think it’s super helpful to hike as much of the trail as possible to get a good feel for the hills and how much stamina you have!

What this section lacked in stream crossing, it really made up for in elevation. Our feet stayed (mostly) dry but, man were my legs throbbing towards the end! I cannot believe how much hiking with a friend for these long training ones has helped me get through! If I was on my own, I don’t know that I would have kept with it. Like most of the RCT, this section of the trail varies a lot in landscape. There were road sections, wide open fields, heavily wooded areas and lots of steep inclines. I was very grateful not to have a heavy pack on and at times I would have liked a trekking pole to help with balance. Undignified butt scooting definitely was happening! Also plenty of snacks is an absolutely must for this trail! I’m still a newbie with planning hikes so I probably didn’t bring enough to fuel me. I stuck with an apple, peanut butter pretzels, and a granola bar. I will definitely need to add in some electrolytes, especially as it gets hotter! 

Have you ever trained for a long hike? What are your go-to trail snacks?

Thanks to my friend Tory for planning out these training hikes! Check out her awesome blog that is full of hiking resources: https://mytrailsaremany.com/. You can also follow her adventures on instagram: @torytalkstrails

RCT: Springdale to Emmerling Park & Leaning Cask Brewing

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Springdale, PA

Big News and Big Hills! I’ll be tackling the Homestead Challenge aka the Half Rachel Carson Trail Challenge. That means in June, I’ll be hiking 19 miles in one day. Am I crazy? Maybe! Thankfully, the weather is getting nicer and I’m able to get out for some training hikes! The first section I tackled was the starting point of the half challenge at Springdale High School, close to the Rachel Carson Homestead. A big shout out to Tory from MyTrailsAreMany for getting me out on the trail to start training! This hike is a point to point (one way) hike which is best done with two cars. You’ll trek just under 9 miles and gain 1,365ft in elevation! This hike isn’t for the faint of heart but is a great way to get a taste of the RCT

THE HIKE: RCT – Springdale to Emmerling

Length: 8.8 miles
Elevation Gain: 1,365 ft
Difficulty: Challenging
Time: 3.5 hours
Trail use: Hiking, leashed pets
Parking: Large lots at either endpoint. Bring two cars to do Point-to-Point
H&H: 4/5

Training for the RCT Challenge is best done by tackling large sections of the trail. It’s best to do it with a partner or group so that you can carpool to the trailhead and leave another car at the endpoint. If going solo, just be aware that you’ll have to double back on yourself a lot! 

My friend Tory from MyTrailsAreMany, reached out about wanting to start training together. She did the Homestead Challenge last year and is going for the Full Challenge this year. Talk about hiking goals! Tory suggested this section of the RCT from Springdale to Emmerling Park because it had some big hills and was the first section of the Homestead Challenge. This was the perfect intro to the Challenge for me because it was the longest hike I’d done so far this year and the hills were NO JOKE. It definitely helped me set a baseline of where I need to improve! J and I were so grateful to have Tory as our guide and time keeper too. 

So, as I mentioned, this trail section starts at Springdale High School parking lot, right next to the baseball field. From there, head down Marion Ave where you’ll pass the original home of Rachel Carson. It’s undergoing some renovations right now, but hopefully will be back open soon. Continue to the end of Marion Ave where you’ll see a tree line and finally head into the woods. Always keep your eyes peeled for the yellow RCT blaze. You should almost always be able to see the next blaze from where you are. Be aware that at many spots along the trail there are intersecting paths and it can be easy to get off course. Let the yellow blazes guide you! 

This section will lead you through woods, along some streets, through a couple streams, and up and down several big hills. Expect to have some wet feet along the way and remember that undignified butt scooting is always an option on those hills! Lots of water and plenty of snacks are a must for these hikes. 

If you’re interested in doing the Homestead Challenge (19 miles) or the Full Challenge (36 miles), there’s still time to enter! You can find the registration page here. If you’re already signed up for the challenge and are looking to start training, the RCT Conservancy has a number of orientation hikes and training hikes coming up or find a friend (like me!) to hike with! 

How do you prepare for long hikes? Got any leg strengthening exercises to share with me?

THE BEER: The Leaning Cask Brewing Co.

Address: 850 Pittsburgh St, Springdale, PA 15144
Distance from Trail Head: 0.5 miles, 2 mins
Website: https://www.leaningcaskbrewing.com/
Food?: BYOF, Food Trucks
Details: Outdoor seating, dog friendly

The best thing about leaving our car at Springdale for this hike? Leaning Cask Brewery is only 0.2 miles away! I’ve had my eye on Leaning Cask for ages but it always seemed so far out of the way. Thankfully this hike was the perfect reason to stop. Although I still feel bad for the amount of mud (and probable stank) that we left at the bar. Anyone else ever feel bad for going somewhere after a particularly muddy hike? I really need to start bringing a change of shoes! 

Anyway, Leaning Cask is a great post-hike spot because they’ve got a large outdoor seating area as well as frequent food trucks on the weekend. They’ve also got an awesome taplist with so many different beer types, as well as some local wine. Also, true to their name, they’ve got some beer on cask! 

Cask ale – Also known as Real Ale, Cask Beer goes through a final fermentation in a cask or barrel. It features a slight carbonation and is served unfiltered at “cask temperature” (around 55F).

The Leaning Cask has been bringing an English pub flair to Springdale since 2016. The owners found themselves heavily influenced by English pub culture and wanted to bring that warmth to their brewpub in PA. You’ll also notice that the two are big dog lovers, as evidenced by many of their beer names. Hence, the pub is friendly to well-behaved and leashed doggos. 

Our Beer:

  • Goldendoodle – Golden Ale – 4.2%
  • Um…That’s On Fire – American IPA – 5.6%
  • Celestial Canine – NEIPA – 6%
  • Pedigree: Blood Orange & Cranberry – Fruited Sour – 6.8%
Photo cred: MyTrailsAreMany
Photo cred: MyTrailsAreMany

Also be sure to check out https://mytrailsaremany.com/ for hiking planning guides, tips and gear, and more!

Emerald View Trail & Inner Groove Brewing (Allentown)

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Mt. Washington, PA

This loop is the best of urban hiking! It starts out on the wooded Emerald View trail, meandering around Mt. Washington then pops you out right at the overlook! From there, enjoy walking along Grandview Ave and then back through the historic neighbors of Mt. Washington. If you’re feeling extra frisky, you can even continue along the Grandview park section of the Emerald View trail. Or stop for a rest and treat at the Shiloh Street shops! The world is your oyster with this one. One big recommendation though is to end your excursion with a visit to Inner Groove’s Allentown taproom! They’ve got awesome beer, bar games, and an outdoor patio. What more could you want?

THE HIKE: Emerald View Loop

Length: 5 miles
Elevation Gain: 660 ft
Difficulty: Moderate
Time: 2 hours
Trail use: Hiking, Biking, Leashed pets
Parking: Various parking lots and street parking
H&H: 3/5

As much as I love visiting state parks with acres and acres of untouched greenery, there’s also something to be said for our local CitiParks which are doing a lot with the little bits of greenspace they can find! One of my new favorites has been the Emerald View trail on Mt. Washington. I used to see the signs for trail crossings on my commute home from work and always wondered about where it could lead. Well, it was time to finally find out! 

Emerald View Park is one of the many green spaces maintained by the City of Pittsburgh Citiparks and their dedicated group of rangers. This park encompasses over 250 acres on Mt. Washington and is a successful story of restoration. In Pittsburgh’s early days, Mt. Washington was heavily mined for soft coal, so much that it became known as Coal Hill. In the 1930s, access to the housing communities on Mt. Washington was created, including some of Pittsburgh’s well-known streets like McArdle, Shiloh, and Grandview. Into the 1970s, the City took greater strides to regulate mining and to take advantage of the beautiful view. The scenic overlooks were built and groups started to advocate for the restoration of the area. Finally in 2007, the park was named as a regional park! 

This is such a great park system because there are beautiful wooded areas right in the midst of an urban neighborhood, then suddenly you come out to that iconic view of Pittsburgh! We started our trek by parking at Olympia Park and heading right into the woods at the end of Hallock Street. We stayed on the Emerald View Trail, although there are several other offshoot trails and neighborhood access points. I really loved this section of the trail because we were able to be in such a little slice of nature while also looking out over the hills to see the highways and iconic Pittsburgh neighborhoods. As you start into the big turn to head towards Mt. Washington and the overlooks, you’ll encounter the steepest parts of this hike. It can’t be Pittsburgh without some inclines! Finally, the Emerald View Trail pops out right on Grandview Ave by the Point of View Sculpture (Jim West, 2006). From there, the trail became more of an urban walk as we stopped at the Duquesne Incline and the various overlook spots. My favorite viewpoint is by the St. Mary of the Mount Church! We continued on Grandview Ave until we reached the Monogahela Incline, then started to make our way back towards Olympia Park. This was about a 5 mile loop. If you were looking for more, you could also add in the 2 mile loop in Grandview Park! Or if you want to avoid sidewalks, you could turn around at the Point of View sculpture and retrace your steps back along the Emerald View Trail.

This was a great hike to explore our city a bit more and also to appreciate the wonderful greenspaces that exist in the city limits. This park has definitely inspired me to check out more of the City’s regional and neighborhood parks! Do you have a favorite?

THE BEER: Inner Groove Brewing

Address: 827 E Warrington Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15210
Distance from Trail Head: 2 miles, 8 mins 
Website: https://www.innergroovebrewing.com/
Food?: BYOF or takeout
Details: Outdoor seating, dog friendly outside

Inner Groove is a microbrewery based out of Verona, which is quite a trek for me! So I was excited when they opened a taproom in the City of Pittsburgh up in the Allentown neighborhood of Mt. Washington. This taproom opened in May 2022 and boasts a large taproom and nice outdoor side patio. Although they don’t have a kitchen, there are plenty of great places to grab a bite in Allentown. Plus, that also means their outside patio is dog friendly, as I brought a furry friend with me the first time we visited and sat outside! In addition to a large selection of their own beers, they also have local wine and a selection of cocktails. 

Inner Groove has been a staple in the small borough of Verona since 2019 when two couples finally realized their dream of opening a brewery together. Inner Groove is known for unique styles and flavors and always has a broad range of beers on tap. As a nod to their name, most of their beers are also inspired by music and feature a music lyric in their names. I love how witty some of them are! 

Inner Groove is a great addition to the Allentown neighborhood and I’m so glad that we have another brewery in our area! Be aware that parking is limited and the small lot off E. Warrington Ave can be a little challenging to pull into.

Our Beer:

  • Stout Stout – American Stout – 8.5%
  • Domo – NEIPA – 6.5%
  • Boysen Da Hood – Fruited Sour – 5.3%
  • Daytime Campfire – Smores Stout – 8%
  • Tin Roof – Irish Red – 5.4%

Updated March 16, 2025

Looking for more Hikes & Hops in the city? Check out Frick Park & East End Brewing, Riverview Park & Late Addition Brewing + Blending, or Allegheny Cementery & Coven Brewing.

Looking for more adventures in Pennsylvania and beyond? Check out my new book: Beer Hiking Pennsylvania and New Jersey

Nature Nugget – Spotted Lanternfly Egg Masses

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Popping on with my first Nature Nugget in ages! As I’m sure a lot of you are aware, the Spotted Lanternfly is an invasive species that has spread across the United States. Currently, many counties in Western Pennsylvania are under a quarantine in order to mitigate the further spread of this harmful creature. You may have seen a lot of ads and billboard talking about squishing these bugs. It may seem harsh, but these swarming bugs cause serious damage to plants. Because of this, they have been labeled a “plant stressor” in that they will contribute to the “long-term weakening of established plants and trees”. These bugs are particularly harmful in the agriculture industry which is why everyone can help slow the spread of them!

https://extension.psu.edu/spotted-lanternfly-what-to-look-for

.Spotted Lanternflies are dormant right now, BUT there is still something you can do to help eradicate them. Whenever you’re out hiking or walking around your neighborhood, keep an eye out for egg masses. The Spotted Lanternfly lays egg masses in September to November which will then hatch in late April to June. Each one of these egg masses can contain 30-50 individual eggs. Ugh! Egg masses are typically found on trees, near the base but can also be found on other smooth surfaces like buildings or concrete. Especially on trees, they might be hiding in the ridges between bark. 

PA Department of Agriculture

We got together with some other nature lovers last weekend to Smash and Trash the Spotted Lanternfly. We learned from rangers and an entomologist how to identify the egg masses and how to squish them so the eggs cannot hatch. In just over an hour, our small but mighty team managed to squash over 30,000 eggs! I’m definitely going to be keeping my eyes open for these masses as I take more hikes these Spring. Every little bit helps to eradicate this invasive species! 

Please note that PennState Extension is still requesting that all sightings of Lanternflies be reported! This information is incredibly helpful in gathering data about the spread of these pesky critters. 

Resources:

https://extension.psu.edu/spotted-lanternfly

https://www.agriculture.pa.gov/Plants_Land_Water/PlantIndustry/Entomology/spotted_lanternfly/quarantine/Pages/default.aspx

https://extension.psu.edu/how-to-remove-spotted-lanternfly-eggs

https://dof.virginia.gov/spotted-lanternfly-egg-mass-scouting-diy/