Parks & Parks P.A.

This is a great park with picnic tables and kayak rentals. It's family and pet friendly! However, parking can be challenging. We had to park 0.5 miles away from the boathouse. If you plan to rent a kayak or paddle board, I highly recommend booking online in advance to save time. I rented a solo kayak at 1:45 PM for a 2:30 PM session, and it wasn't bad at all!

Late spring update 2023: It’s lovely to see all the greenery, young wildlife, and the lake bustling with activities. *** Lovely urban park, largest in Allegheny County. Popular for the active citizens: walking, jogging, biking (street and mountain), ice skating (in the winter), kayaking, golf, swimming (in the public pool), children’s playground, diving g walking, and/or leisurely fishing and picnicking. The park is particularly beautiful in the spring. Wildlife are out. Trees are blooming in wonderful array of colors. The footpaths, bike paths and walking trails are very well marked.

First time at the Lazer light holiday show...also the last time.They park you in a huge lot and you sit in your car, tune in to a radio station and the Lazers are choreographed to music. Nothing spectacular. They need WAY MORE colors ..almost everything is blue or purple and the colors are muted.People won't turn their headlights off so you can see, the honking horns and flashing lights sing a long....NEEDS TO GO!!! PLEASE play traditional Christmas music... not off the wall songs by Taylor Swift and Gwen Stefani that don't sound like holiday songs at all. Save yourself and go enjoy the lights at the Pittsburgh Zoo or Oglebay. Total disappointment!!

So many trails that you'll need a map to navigate and don't get lost! Trails are shared with mountain bikers so always keep an eye out for bikers especially if you have a dog. Some trails are wider but some others seem to be specifically designed for mountain bikers. One in particular, that intersects the white and blue trails is a difficult mountain bike trail will.lots of jumps and drops so definitely avoid that if your on foot. I hiked the white, blue, white/green, white/blue trails and met a couple of hikers and 2 mountain bikers on a Sunday around 10:30am. The trails aren't well marked but they are kept clean. They are not too hard to hike but you can encounter some nice elevations. Not many views. There are plenty of parking lots scattered around the park, pavilions,and bathrooms or portable toilets. Some areas can get very busy so if you are looking for some quiet time choose the least common areas and the hardest trails. The trails are usually quite but sometimes they do events with cars and microphones which take away from the quietness of the park. Some areas are undergoing restoration so be respectful if you have a dog with you. Dogs must be on leash at all times. If I lived closer to North Park I'd be a regular. Recommend it.

Absolutely beautiful park, the kids love it. We have had fun fishing adventures and seen a bunch of different wildlife! There are also porter John's and bathrooms throughout which is amazing with young kids who need to go often. ????