Posted on by

Checking In this Fall: Fall Family Get Away to Laurel Hill State Park and Laurel Highlands

Mr. Katie and the boys posing near the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) Statue near the entrance to the camping area at Laurel Hill State Park.

A few weeks ago, Mr. Katie, the boys and I traveled to western Pennsylvania for a fun fall weekend at Laurel Hill State Park. For several years now, my Dad’s side of the family has had a tradition of getting together for a family picnic in the fall. We have had the picnic at a few different locations but for the past two years, it has been held at Laurel Hill State Park in Somerset, PA. I wrote about one our trips to Laurel Hill State Park on this very blog last year.

For the last two years, my sisters and their families and my family have stayed in the camping cottages at the park during the weekend of the picnic. I feels magical to stay in the cottages during Columbus Day Weekend because the air is crisp but not too crisp. It feels like the last big warm-weather event before winter. We also love staying in the cottages because we can have our own space but still spend a lot of time together.

My Dad has also been holding the picnic lately during Columbus Day Weekend, which is great because it gives us an extra day to spend time together.

We all had an especially good time this year. The weather was chillier than it has been in the past but the leaves were incredibly colorful this year. It also seems like our individual families have found a groove in terms of what items to pack and how to structure our time to maximize the fun.

My family arrived on Friday night and we left on Monday morning.

During this time, we took hikes.

Here are some pictures from our hike on the Laurel Hill Lake Trail.
Mr. Man and Preschool Nugget with their Cousin A. having a blast on the hike after the picnic.
Another shot of Mr. Man and Cousin A. goofing around on our hike.
The boys dog cousin Marnie was a big hit with many of the children. Preschool Nugget wanted to be in charge of holding her leash on our hike.

We visited scenic overlooks.

A view from the new-ish scenic overlook at Laurel Hill State Park. This area of the park used to be a wedding venue before it became part of the park.

We visited Seven Springs Mountain Resort for their Autumnfest.

My sisters and I had never really attended any of the festivals at Seven Springs as children, in fact we regarded Seven Spring skeptically, but the festival was free and some of the aspects of it were free too, like face painting!
Mr. Man and his cousin Hayley posed together with painted faces.

We had dinner with all of my sisters and their families at the family manse.

Check out the light on the trees in the horizon. The hills, with their leaves, looked like they were on fire. It was a great weekend for foliage.

 And of course we celebrated with our whole family at the annual Fall Picnic. I have almost zero pictures of the actual picnic because I was so busy experiencing it. I got to talk to everyone, I feel like I didn’t get a chance to talk to everyone in depth and that I regret but you can only do what you can do. It was a gorgeous fall Sunday afternoon and it was great to spend time together.

Preschool Nugget loved spending time with his dog cousin.

It was great to see everyone and spend time with everyone.

Preschool Nugget gave everyone big hugs during the weekend. Here he is with his cousin J, saying goodnight on Sunday night.

I hope you are all doing well.

Love,

Katie

How to Subscribe to this blog!

Published by Katie Nicholson

2 Replies to “Checking In this Fall: Fall Family Get Away to Laurel Hill State Park and Laurel Highlands”

  1. Great post Katie! We loved spending time with you guys at the picnic. Wonderful pictures too. Especially that one of Mr. Katie and the boys.

Comments are closed.