19 places
Lake Erie beaches and the birthplace of the oil industry
Photo: Ruhrfisch, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Pennsylvania has only a short stretch of Great Lakes shoreline, and Erie makes the most of it. Presque Isle, a sandy peninsula that curves out into Lake Erie and shelters the city's harbor, has miles of swimming beaches, quiet lagoons for paddling and a lighthouse, and the sunsets over open water are the best show in town. Back in the city, the Erie Maritime Museum tells the story of Oliver Hazard Perry's victory over a British squadron on the lake in 1813.
Inland, the land turns to farms, woods and small towns. In 1859 Edwin Drake struck oil beside Oil Creek near Titusville, setting off America's first oil boom; the Drake Well Museum, the ghost town of Pithole and the trails of Oil Creek State Park tell what happened next. To the west, Pymatuning Lake stretches across the Ohio line, a big lake for fishing, boating and watching waterfowl.
Highlights
State park · Millcreek Township, Erie County
A sandy peninsula curving into Lake Erie, with miles of swimming beaches, a lighthouse, the Perry Monument, lagoons for paddling and a spring bird migration that draws birders from far and wide.
Photo: Ruhrfisch, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
History museum · Cherrytree Township, Venango County
The spot where Edwin Drake struck oil in 1859 and launched the modern petroleum industry, with a replica engine house and derrick, an oil-history museum and trails along Oil Creek.
Photo: Zamoose, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
State park · Cornplanter Township, Venango County
The valley where the oil industry was born, with a paved bike trail past the sites of vanished boomtowns, a heritage railroad, a 36-mile hiking loop and hollows full of small waterfalls.
Photo: Jason Pratt, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Maritime museum · Erie, Erie County
Home port of the U.S. Brig Niagara, a reconstruction of Oliver Hazard Perry's flagship, with exhibits on the 1813 Battle of Lake Erie and the region's maritime past.
Photo: Pnoble805 at English Wikipedia, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
State park · West Shenango Township, Crawford County
Pennsylvania's largest lake, shared with Ohio, offers beaches, cabins and big campgrounds along its shore, plus the famous Linesville spillway, where carp crowd so thickly they seem to pave the water.
Photo: Andrew Bardwell Camera location 41° 32′ 39.6″ N, 80° 31′ 07.8″ W View this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMap 41.544333; -80.518833, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ghost town · Cornplanter Township, Venango County
Mown paths on a quiet hillside trace the streets of an 1865 oil boomtown that swelled to thousands of people and emptied within a few years.
Photo: Plazak, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The full list
The spot where Edwin Drake struck oil in 1859 and launched the modern petroleum industry, with a replica engine house and derrick, an oil-history museum and trails along Oil Creek.
The gateway to Presque Isle, with exhibits on the peninsula's dunes, wetlands and Lake Erie ecology, and an observation tower with views over the bay and lake.
Changing exhibitions and a wide-ranging collection strong in American ceramics, Asian art and bronze sculpture, shown partly in the marble 1839 Greek Revival Customs House downtown.
Home port of the U.S. Brig Niagara, a reconstruction of Oliver Hazard Perry's flagship, with exhibits on the 1813 Battle of Lake Erie and the region's maritime past.
Excursion trains roll down the valley where the oil business began, through Oil Creek State Park between Titusville and Rynd Farm.
The spot where Edwin Drake struck oil in 1859 and launched the modern petroleum industry, with a replica engine house and derrick, an oil-history museum and trails along Oil Creek.
A square brick tower of 1873 rising from its keeper's house beside a Lake Erie beach, on the open-lake side of the Presque Isle peninsula.
Mown paths on a quiet hillside trace the streets of an 1865 oil boomtown that swelled to thousands of people and emptied within a few years.
Standing on a bluff above the lake, a sandstone tower of 1867 marks the site of one of the first lighthouses on the Great Lakes, with a small park around it.
Where French Creek meets the Allegheny River, a Victorian county seat with oil-boom mansions, a downtown laid out around two parks, and paved river trails leading out of town.
Where the oil industry began in 1859, with the Drake Well Museum on the site of the first commercial well, Victorian houses built on oil money and a bike trail through Oil Creek's valley.
A sandy peninsula curving into Lake Erie, with miles of swimming beaches, a lighthouse, the Perry Monument, lagoons for paddling and a spring bird migration that draws birders from far and wide.
Pennsylvania's largest lake, shared with Ohio, offers beaches, cabins and big campgrounds along its shore, plus the famous Linesville spillway, where carp crowd so thickly they seem to pave the water.
The valley where the oil industry was born, with a paved bike trail past the sites of vanished boomtowns, a heritage railroad, a 36-mile hiking loop and hollows full of small waterfalls.
The official who vowed to put a state park within 25 miles of every Pennsylvanian lent his name to this one, wrapped around slender Lake Wilhelm, where anglers and ospreys work the coves.
Tall bluffs above wild Lake Erie shoreline, left free of development, with steelhead runs in Elk Creek, rare oak savanna on sandy soil and sunsets over the water.
The gateway to Presque Isle, with exhibits on the peninsula's dunes, wetlands and Lake Erie ecology, and an observation tower with views over the bay and lake.
Marshes, beaver ponds and wooded creek valleys managed for migrating ducks and geese, with quiet walking trails where birders look for waterfowl, eagles and wading birds.
A paved rail trail following the wild and scenic Allegheny River south from Franklin through a deep, wooded valley, with two long railroad tunnels along the way.
Right at the gateway to Presque Isle, a family-owned amusement park dating to the 1890s, with wooden roller coasters, classic rides and the Water World water park.
A compact, family-friendly zoo in Glenwood Park, with animals from around the world, a children's area with a carousel, and a little train that crosses Mill Creek.
