Page 121 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - USA

PENNSY L V ANIA  119

h Laurel Highlands
The Amish
n 120 E Main St Ligonier, (800) 333-
5661. ∑ laurelhighlands.org All Amish trace their roots to the Swiss Anabaptist
(“New Birth”) movement of 1525, an offshoot of
To the south of Pittsburgh, ridges the Protestant Reformation, whose creed
gather together, valleys become rejected the formality of established churches.
canyons, and mountain laurel Today’s Old Order Amish are the most
covers the slopes, giving the conservative of the sect, disdaining any device
region its name. The splendid that would connect them to the larger world,
1,700-ft- (518-m-) deep including electricity, phones, and cars.
Youghiogheny Gorge cuts Conspicuous because of their plain, dark
through the scenic Laurel Ridge attire – with white prayer caps for the
women and straw hats for the men –
Mountains, where an area of and their horse-and-buggy mode of
nearly 30 sq miles (77 sq km) transportation, the Amish in America are
forms the Ohiopyle State Park. little changed from their 17th-century Amish buggy on a rural
The park includes more than ancestors who came seeking religious freedom. highway
28 miles (45 km) of the
Youghiogheny River. White-
water rafting is popular here, as P Fallingwater completed in 1936, is one of
are hiking, jogging, biking, and SR 381, Mill Run. Tel (724) 329-8501. 20 huge locks and dams on the
cross-country skiing on the Open mid-Mar–end-Nov: 10am–4pm Ohio River from Pittsburgh to
43- mile (69-km) Youghiogheny Thu–Tue (11:30am–3pm Sat & Sun in Cairo, Illinois. The dam creates
River Trail. Dec). Closed Jan, Feb, Easter, a pool more than 18 miles
Fallingwater, an archi- Thanksgiving, Dec 25. & 8 (29 km) long for recreational
tectural tour de force by ∑ fallingwater.org and commercial use.
renowned architect Frank Lloyd McConnells Mill State Park
Wright, lies north of the park. j Western Amish follows the path of Slippery
Built in 1936, the house reflects Rock Creek and contains a
Wright’s interest in structures Country former water-driven gristmill,
that were an integral part of n 229 S Jefferson St, New Castle, now a museum. The untamed
the landscape. (888) 284-7599. ∑ visitlawrence beauty of Slippery Rock Gorge is
Laurel Ridge State Park county.com very popular with rock climbers
stretches from the village of and rappellers. Moraine State
Ohiopyle in the west to the The scenic territory around the Park, about 5 miles (8 km)
Conemaugh River in the east. town of New Castle, 56 miles east of McConnells Park, is a
The 70-mile (113-km) Laurel (145 km) from Pittsburgh, is small paradise reborn from
Highlands Hiking Trail is open all a hand-stitched quilt of an industrial wasteland where
year round. The Johnstown Flood agricultural acreage, parks, and mining flourished until the
Museum chronicles the Conemaugh villages. Like the residents of the 1950s. Mines were then sealed,
River disaster that killed more Pennsylvania Dutch Country gas and oil wells plugged, and
than 2,000 people and des troyed near Lancaster (see p116), a large the 5-sq-mile (13-sq-km) Lake
Johnstown in 1889. population of Old Order Amish Arthur was constructed.
and Mennonites have plowed
} Ohiopyle State Park and planted farms in the Enon } McConnells Mill State Park
7 Sheridan St, Ohiopyle. Tel (724) 329- Valley, near New Castle. Portersville. Tel (724) 368-8091.
8591. Open daily. Montgomery Locks and Dam, Open sunrise–sunset daily.

The Youghiogheny River looping through Ohiopyle State Park, Laurel Highlands

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