Our Community Awareness and Park User Studies gathered feedback from visitors to all nine county parks and telephone participants by completing a random survey during the summer of 2016, and again in the summer of 2022. This tool allows us to gauge the enjoyment of the parks and learn what activities visitors participate in when they visit.

Ecological Assessments and Action Plans are comprehensive studies to evaluate each park’s natural resources and ecological assets and recommend an implementation plan for improving the environment of the park. Eight of the nine county parks have been completed and we are currently fundraising for the assessment of the last park.

The Economic Impact Study for the county parks analyzes how park investments, operations, and visitor spending contribute to local economies while also assessing environmental benefits like air and water quality. This study is the first of its kind for Allegheny County Parks.

Meadows provide critical habitat for pollinators like bees and butterflies, allow rainfall to infiltrate deep into the soil instead of creating runoff complications and significantly decrease the amount of fuel and greenhouse gas emissions that are required to maintain lawns. To reap the same benefits, use our Guide to Creating a Home Meadow to learn how to install a pollinator meadow in your own yard.

Stream Studies complement our ecological work by diving deeply into the condition of the streams through the assessment of their chemistry, macro-invertebrate biological community, and physical condition using standardized procedures over a one-year period in each park. In total, almost 50 miles of streams have been studied throughout the nine county parks.

The Allegheny County Parks Foundation envisions a future in which all nine county parks are connected by world-class trails. In order to help this vision grow we have worked on trail connectivity along North Park’s Lake Trail, studied the Connectivity between South and White Oak Parks, and developed connector trails for the Montour Trail in South Park and the Panhandle Trail in Settlers Cabin Park.

The nine Allegheny County Parks have more than 200 miles of trails for hikers, bikers, walkers and everyone! Our Trail Discovery Guide features 18 popular trails – two trails in each park – offering a variety of distances, surfaces, scenic features and elevations.