A Weekend in Ohiopyle
Written by locals · Times are our own estimates at an unhurried pace
- Best for
- Couples, groups of friends, anyone driving more than two hours
- How long
- Two days, one night
- When
- Best late May through mid-October
A weekend is where Ohiopyle stops being a stop-off and starts being a destination. You get the whole park on foot on day one, and the two things that actually need a day of their own, the river and the rail trail, on day two.
Book the rafting first and build the weekend around it. Summer Saturdays sell out, and the early launches go first.
The plan
Saturday, 9:00 am
Ohiopyle Falls, then Ferncliff
Start at the observation decks before the town wakes up, then cross onto Ferncliff Peninsula for the flat loop around the river bend. Two hours, gently.
Tip: Park once at the visitor center. Everything on Saturday morning is walkable from there.
Saturday, 11:30 am
Cucumber Falls
Down the steps into the gorge and behind the falls. Then follow the trail along Cucumber Run if you have the legs. The gorge bottom is a different world from the rim.
Tip: Small lot, fills fast. If it is full, come back after lunch rather than circling.
Saturday, 2:00 pm
Natural waterslides at Meadow Run
The afternoon belongs here. Slide, get out, walk back up, do it again. Then walk ten minutes upstream to the cascades when you have had enough.
Tip: This is the busiest spot in the park on a hot Saturday. It thins noticeably after 4pm.
Saturday, 6:00 pm
Dinner and the low bridge
Eat in town, then walk out onto the low bridge by the old train station as the light goes. It is thirty seconds from the main street and it is the best free thing in Ohiopyle after dark.
Tip: Ohiopyle is not a late town. Most kitchens close early.
Sunday, 8:30 am
Raft the Lower Yough
Seven and a half miles of Class III–IV whitewater starting below the falls, three and a half to four and a half hours on the water, about six hours from check-in to getting back to your car. Fully guided if this is your first time.
Tip: Shoes that strap on. Nothing in your pockets. Check the level the morning of.
Sunday, 3:00 pm
Great Allegheny Passage
Rent a bike in town and ride the old railbed along the river. It is flat, it is crushed limestone, and the stretch downstream toward the Bruner Run take-out follows the water the whole way. An hour out and back is plenty.
Tip: The high bridge is the view worth stopping for.
Sunday, 5:00 pm
Baughman Rock on the way out
It is a short detour off Route 381 heading home and it gives you the whole gorge in one frame. A good last look at where you spent the weekend.
Tip: Or Kentuck Vista if you are leaving north; it is a roadside stop with no walk at all.
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- A packing checklist for this exact trip
- Where to park, where to eat, and when each lot fills
- The backup plan for high water or rain
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Change the plan if…
Traveling with people who will not raft
Sunday morning splits well: rafters on the river, everyone else on the Laurel Highlands Trail overlook or the rail trail. You are back together by early afternoon.
Adding Fallingwater
Frank Lloyd Wright's house is twenty minutes north and tours must be booked well in advance. It slots best into Sunday morning if you are not rafting, or Saturday morning if you shift the park day. See how to visit Fallingwater.
Camping instead of a hotel
Kentuck Campground sits on the plateau above the gorge. See camping at Ohiopyle for what is available and how far ahead to book.
Common questions
How many days do you need in Ohiopyle?
Two. One day covers the waterfalls, Ferncliff and the natural waterslides on foot. The second day is what makes the trip: a guided rafting run on the Lower Yough takes most of a day on its own, and the Great Allegheny Passage deserves an afternoon.
What is the best Ohiopyle weekend for a first visit?
Mid-June or mid-September. Both give you warm water, reliable river levels and a park that is not at peak capacity. July and August weekends are the busiest of the year and the parking is the limiting factor, not the attractions.
Where do you stay when visiting Ohiopyle?
In town there are guesthouses and outfitter-run lodging within walking distance of the falls; Kentuck Campground is the park campground up on the plateau. Ohiopyle is very small, so most weekend visitors stay in town, at the campground, or in Farmington and Confluence nearby.
Other Ohiopyle itineraries
- One Perfect Day in Ohiopyle. Ohiopyle is small enough to see properly in a day and busy enough to ruin that day if you arrive at eleven and try to park. This is the order that works.
- Ohiopyle with Kids. Ohiopyle is unusually good with children because the best things in it are short walks from a parking lot. Here is the version of the day that doesn't end in a meltdown.
- Labor Day Weekend in Ohiopyle. The last reliable warm-water weekend of the year, and the busiest three days in the park. Both of those facts should change your plan.
- A Fall Foliage Weekend in Ohiopyle. Autumn is the best time to be here and almost nobody plans for it properly. The color, the light and the overlooks all have an order.
- Memorial Day Weekend in Ohiopyle. The season opener. Big water, loud waterfalls, and swimming that is colder than people expect. Plan for spring, not for summer.
- A Few Hours in Ohiopyle. Three stops, about three hours, and you will have seen the things people remember. This is the plan for a stop-off rather than a trip.