North Park
North Park is located in Pennsylvania
North Park
North Park
North Park is located in the United States
North Park
North Park
TypeMunicipal
LocationAllegheny County, Pennsylvania
Coordinates40°35′38″N 79°59′49″W / 40.5939°N 79.99690°W / 40.5939; -79.99690
Area3,075-acre (12 km2)
Created1931

North Park is a 3,075-acre (12 km2) county park that is located in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the largest in the county's 12,000-acre (49 km²) network of nine distinct parks.

History and notable features

Completed in 1931, North Park is sited 15 miles (24 km) northeast of downtown Pittsburgh in Hampton, McCandless, and Pine Townships. The park features the largest man-made body of water in the county, over 75 acres (300,000 m2), bordered by four miles of woodlands.

Its swimming pool was one of the largest in the United States when it opened on July 5, 1937. It holds 2,225,000 gallons of water (compared to 20–30,000 gallons in a modern city swimming pool) and has enough room for 5,000 people to swim. The pool is 50m x 105m.

The park also offers a golf course, a large ice skating rink that was completed in February 1961, a movie theater, picnic groves, tennis courts, basketball courts, kayak rentals, a treetop obstacle course with zipline, and several miles of trails for walking, hiking, bike riding, and mountain biking, including trails for the visually impaired, known as the "Braille Trail."[1] The Rachel Carson Trail runs through North Park, as well. North Park is also notable for their boathouse restaurant called "Over the Bar", which has a bicycle theme.

The Latodami Nature Center offers environmental education programs for school groups, scouts, and other private and public groups.[2]

Further reading

  • Smith, Helene and George Swetnam (1991). A Guidebook to Historic Western Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. 0-8229-5424-9.

References

  1. "Braille Trail Loop". AllTrails.com. Retrieved 2017-05-26.
  2. "Latodami Nature Center". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2017-05-26.
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