(research.) We took our kids on an autumn trip to see Fallingwater, the masterpiece by Frank Lloyd Wright. While we were there, we visited the nearby town of Ohiopyle and walked along the Great Allegheny Passage Trail. This is one of the earliest rail-trails in the country, made out of various sections of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad, Union Railroad, and the Western Maryland Railway. This particular section was the first to open in 1986, but today, the trail stretches 150 miles from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Maryland, where you can connect directly to the C&O Canal Towpath to complete a total 335-mile trip to Washington, D.C. We didn’t go that far – obviously – but we did walk the virtually-flat, crushed limestone trail across two beautiful old train trestles, one high above the gorge, and the kids planned a trip back with bikes to ride all the way to Pittsburgh.  >> Ryan Gravel

Find more information about the Great Allegheny Passage here.

Map the Great Allegheny Passage Trail at Ohiopyle here.