The staff and management of Hickory Hollow Campground welcomes you to the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania.. The region surrounding Hickory Hollow Campground contains many exciting attractions and is rich with history. We’re certain you will enjoy one of these interesting and exciting places.

Outdoor Fun and Adventure

For a day of adventure, visit the Laurel Caverns. You can go cave exploring in the undeveloped portions of the cave or rappel 45 feet in the developed cave. Laurel Caverns is Pennsylvania’s largest cave with over three miles of natural passages. For the less adventuresome there is the traditional one hour guided tour, miniature golf in Kavernputt, the world’s largest simulated cave, and panning for gemstones.

Navigate some of the most highly rated whitewater by-ways in the eastern United States. The Youghiogheny and Cheat Rivers are a short distance away from the campground and offer unequalled, refreshing fresh water experiences. With a long season, reliable water, and varying levels of difficulty, this river has something for everybody. The entire family can enjoy the tame rapids of the Lower Yough and the experienced whitewater enthusiast will love the steep, technical rapids of the Upper Yough.

The Farmers’ and Threshermen’s Jubilee has been known as the festival with the steam engines and the dog powered butter churn. The Jubilee has five days of events for the entire family. Come cheer for your favorite contestant at the Outhouse Dash Race, held after the wonderful Grand Jubilee parade. Many tractor, ATV., truck, semi-truck pulling contests and even a horse pulling contest are held during the week. Stage entertainment, crafts, quilt shows and lots of good food await you at the Jubilee!

Bicycling and hiking are two of the most popular local activities. In addition, sections of the Great Allegheny Passage trail system are open to equestrians. Horses are permitted only on the grassy areas between Boston & Connellsville; Rockwood & Garrett; Frostburg & State Line. The trail system is universally accessible between dawn & dusk. Winter snow allows cross-country skiing and snow shoeing. Fishermen take the trail to favorite fishing spots. Bird watching is another favorite activity.

Idlewild Park is the oldest amusement park in Pennsylvania and the third oldest operating amusement park in the United States behind Lake Compounce and Cedar Point. The park has won several awards, including from industry publication Amusement Today as the best children’s park in the world. Idlewild features a waterpark complete with 14 wet and wild water slides and a fun water activity area with tipping cones, hydro soakers, and a large tipping bucket that dumps out hundreds of gallons of water. There’s a swimming pool, plus a water activity for the little ones too. Captain Kidd’s Adventure Galley, features six water slides, crawl tunnels, net climbs, bridges, a giant tipping bucket and plenty of water spray features.

Laurel Hill Creek is a 38 mile long tributary of the Youghiogheny River located in southwestern Pennsylvania. The stream drains the eastern slope of the Great Laurel Ridge. The river flows from above and through Laurel Hill Lake located at Trent. The headwaters are in Kooser & Laurel Hill State Parks. State forest and game lands cover the western portions of the drainage basin. If fishing is your sport, the Laurel Highlands is for you. The region offers miles of pristine creeks, streams, rivers, and lakes for the most challenging fishing. Check out today’s Fishing Report.

Historical Attractions

The Somerset County Court House was built between 1904 and 1906, and is a two-story classical revival building measuring 146 feet by 112 feet, and 135 feet tall. It is built of Indiana limestone and sits on a sandstone foundation. The building has a terra cotta tile roof, and central tower with copper dome. It features a semi-circular portico supported by four unfluted Corinthian order columns. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. It is located in the Uptown Somerset Historic District.

The Somerset Historical Center preserves the history of life in rural southwestern Pennsylvania from the times of the region’s first farmers to the present day through exhibits, workshops, and educational programs. Permanent orientation exhibits and videos can be seen in the Visitors Center, constructed in 1997. The Visitors Center is also home to the Historical Society’s Genealogical Research Library and additional changing exhibits.

Come visit the Johnstown Flood Museum, established in remembrance of the Johnstown Flood (locally, the Great Flood of 1889) after the catastrophic failure of the South Fork Dam on the Little Conemaugh River. The dam broke after several days of extremely heavy rainfall, unleashing 20 million tons of water from the reservoir known as Lake Conemaugh. With a flow rate that temporarily equaled that of the Mississippi River, the flood killed 2,209 people and caused $17 million of damage (about $425 million in 2012 dollars).

The Windber Coal Heritage Center’s state-of-the-art exhibits, media presentations, and archives describe the everyday life of a coal miner and his family, the evolution of coal mining, the struggle for unionization, and the impact western Pennsylvania’s bituminous coal mining had.  The center also interprets the significance of 13 dependent mining communities surrounding a model mining town and coal company regional headquarters producing over 190 million tons of coal from 1890 to 1962.

Visit Fallingwater, designed by legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Built partly over a waterfall on Bear Run in the Mill Run section of the Laurel Highlands of the Allegheny Mountains, Time magazine cited it as Wright’s “most beautiful job” and it is listed among Smithsonian’s Life’s list of 28 places “to visit before you die.” It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966, in 1991 members of the American Institute of Architects named the house the “best all-time work of American architecture”.

Frank Wright’s Kentuck Knob uses construction materials of native sandstone and tidewater red cypress that blend naturally with the surroundings. The kitchen is the architectural core of the home. It’s walls of stone not only anchor the two wings of the house but they also rise to penetrate the horizontal line of the copper roof. An open floor plan, cantilevered overhangs, and great expanses of glass effortlessly integrate the inside with the outside. Stretching to the east, just beyond the back terrace, is a breathtaking panorama of the Youghiogheny River Gorge and the beautiful Laurel Highlands.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Duncan House located in Acme, less than 45 minutes from Fallingwater, is a “must see” on your architectural tour of Wright’s masterpieces in the Laurel Highlands. Enjoy natural wooded surroundings while listening to the fascinating story of how the Duncan House was saved by Wright conservationists and relocated from Illinois to this picturesque Pennsylvania site.

The Flight 93 Memorial Site is located at the site of the crash of United Airlines Flight 93, which was hijacked in the September 11 attacks, in Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania, about 2 miles north of Shanksville, and 60 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. The memorial was made to honor the passengers and crew of Flight 93, who stopped the terrorists from reaching their target. A temporary memorial to the 40 victims was established soon after the crash, and the first phase of the permanent memorial was completed, opened, and dedicated on September 10, 2011.

On the evening of July 24, 2002, eighteen Black Wolf Coal Company miners were in Quecreek Mine No. 1 working with what turned out to be an inaccurate mine map. They accidentally broke through into the abandoned, flooded Harrison No. 2 Mine, quickly filling the No. 1 Mine with water and trapping nine miners in an inaccessible section of tunnel. A rescue effort began immediately and the men were rescued after 77 hours in the mine. The Quecreek Miners’ Rescue Site’s mission is to preserve this site & celebrate the inspirational story of the Quecreek mine rescue.

Local Entertainment

Huston’s Haunted Hollow is Western Pennsylvania’s premier haunted attraction, completely redesigned. Experience the Haunted Boarding House, Twisted Barn in 3D, Toxic Swamp, Haunted Hayride / Toxic Swamp Walk and Dead End Cornfield. Meet “Mad Mae”, the evil landlady who makes sure that all of her guests “sleep like the dead.”

Hidden Valley Resorts and Seven Springs offer a beautiful getaway year-round. The Hidden Valley Golf Club presents a spectacular 18-hole championship course with tree-lined fairways nestled among native Mountain Laurel. Built along the natural fall lines of its mountaintop home, 30 miles of vistas capture the dramatic landscape of the surrounding countryside. The Trillium Spa at Hidden Valley offers an escape from the stress of everyday life with a relaxing spa menu featuring manicures, pedicures, massages and more.

Jennerstown Speedway will race weekly Saturday nights, featuring the late models, chargers, street stocks, and hobby stocks. The season opener is May 10, and will feature the Super Cup Stock Car Series, as well as the weekly racing program. Special events being considered are monster trucks, ISMA super modifieds, Super Cup Series, tractor pulls, Pittsburgh Circle Track Club Nights, Senior Series, crash cars, skid plate races, and drifting.

Glades Pike Winery offers many different types of wines for your tasting enjoyment. With the beautiful Laurel Highlands surrounding you, enjoy a glass or a bottle of wine and relax on the deck or in the gazebo. Glades Pike Winery also offers a “Music in the Mountains” concert series for your listening pleasure.

Nearly 14,000 authentic wooden covered bridges once existed in our Nation. Today less than 900 remain. Time and technology took its toll on the bridges until recent years when Federal grants came available for states to restore and rebuild many of the historic structures.

Somerset, Pennsylvania

Somerset County Chamber of Commerce

Somerset Country Tourism Grant Program

Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau