Ohiopyle State Park in Western Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands is one of my go-to destinations, in part because it’s close to home, in part because it protects a deep, biologically-diverse mountain river gorge with seemingly endless water features, and in part because it’s one the first wild places I remember visiting with my parents. This morning, I hiked Jonathan Run Trail to the Great Allegheny Passage along the Youghiogheny River, a circuit featuring a half dozen or so significant waterfalls (a few requiring a bit of bushwhacking to reach). Some of the wildflowers currently in bloom in the gorge: wild geranium (Geranium maculatum), golden alexanders (Zizia aurea), downy phlox (Phlox pilosa), dwarf ginseng (Panax trifolius), and Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum). The next wave of wildflowers on the way: white clintonia lily (Clintonia umbellulata); and Indian Cucumber (Medeola virginiana).
