Cucumber Falls front view Ohiopyle State Park Laurel Highlands Region near Pittsburgh Pennsylvania

By Scott Berney for Take Back Roads

I recently attended a three-day tourism conference at the gorgeous Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in the Laurel Highlands region.  Centered around creating networking opportunities between travel writers like myself and the tourism boards who sponsored the event, the conference featured several planned activities so that we could network in a relaxed environment.  The activities gave us the opportunity to spend a good part of each day exploring the region who was our host.  One of my favorite experiences, however, actually took place after the conference had ended:  finally getting to explore the well-known Cucumber Falls in Ohiopyle State Park.

Cucumber Falls front view Ohiopyle State Park Laurel Highlands Region near Pittsburgh Pennsylvania

One thing that I’ve found to be universally true about travel is that the closer that you live to a regional attraction, the more likely it is that you will take it for granted… and potentially never visit it.  This is exactly what happened with me and making the scenic drive from Pittsburgh to Ohiopyle to see Cucumber Falls.  I’ve lived in this area for well over ten years now, and have visited Ohiopyle and the Laurel Highlands quite a few times…  but until this trip I had never made the five minute drive from Ohiopyle to see the Falls!

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