BRIDGE: It seems our Kinzua Bridge is attracting lots of attention, which is a steady source of pride for area residents in autumn.
The website Pennlive.com, which is the site of The Patriot News paper in Harrisburg, featured a story about the Kinzua Bridge State Park on Monday, naming it “Today’s Top Fall Foliage Spot in Pennsylvania.”
Here’s what the site said: “In a fall that seems in a hurry to get here, the leaves are changing fast across Pennsylvania’s northern tier. That places Kinzua Bridge State Park at Mount Jewett in McKean County squarely in our crosshairs for our first ‘Today’s Top Fall Foliage Spot in Pennsylvania.’
“Facebook reports are showing the autumnal colors right on the edge of full blast at the 339-acre park, which features the reinvented Kinzua Viaduct.”
The site reprinted the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources description of the bridge’s history, from the iron viaduct in 1881 through the 2003 tornado and the park’s reinvention with an homage to the power of nature with the Skywalk towering over the twisted metal remains of the original towers.
The DCNR website offers a list of prime locations for viewing foliage, and unsurprisingly, it’s a long list.
On that list are Delaware State Forest in Pike and northern Monroe counties, Promised Land State Park, Lehigh Gorge State Park, French Creek State Park, the state forests of Tiadaghton, Sproul and Susquehannock; Pine Creek Valley, also known as the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon; Cherry Springs State Park in Potter County, Elk State Forest, Elk Country Visitors Center, Bucktail State Park natural area along Route 120 from Emporium to Lock Haven, Poe Valley State Park, Rothrock State Forest, Spruce Creek, Tuscarora State Forest, Kings Gap Environmental Education Center, Michaux State Forest, Pine Grove Furnace State Park, South Mountain, Mount Davis, Forbes State Forest, Jones Mill Run, Cornplanter State Forest and, of course, Kinzua Bridge State Park.
Maybe we’ve become jaded, but it would be tough to beat the views of autumn’s palette from right here in our own backyards.
