The best places in Western Pennsylvania to see mountain laurel in full bloom

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The best places in Western Pennsylvania to see mountain laurel in full bloom

Mary Ann Thomas | Wednesday, June 8, 2022 2:40 p.m.

A mountain laurel plant is seen in 2008. Even some of the continent’s most beautiful ornamental plants have a sinister side. The Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia), characterized by its leathery evergreen leaves and pink and white flowers, grows wild into a fruity shrub or small tree in woody areas, meadows and bogs. The leaves and nectar are poisonous, capable of causing headaches, blood pressure and heart rhythm problems, comas and convulsions.

Editor’s note: This story was originally published in 2018.

Pennsylvania’s official state flower, the mountain laurel is in full bloom throughout the Pittsburgh region.

Although most people are familiar with the laurel’s relatives — rhododendron and azaleas — the official state flower is plentiful but in select environments, mostly rocky, moist hilltops and hillsides.

Resembling a rhody, but generally smaller with dark leathery green leaves, the laurel’s flower clusters are star-shaped, ranging in hues from white to varying shades of pink and red.

In southwestern Pennsylvania, visitors should head to the Laurel Highlands for the best views of mountain laurel, according to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, and not surprisingly, the Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau.

We saw them last week in full bloom at #CowansGap! pic.twitter.com/ophwG0Pqij

— RoadTripTails (@roadtriptails) June 15, 2018

Visitors should stick to higher elevations and mountain tops for some of the most beautiful displays, said Charles Bier, senior director of conservation science at the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.

A number of state parks, forests and game lands are open and accessible and open to the general public.

• Hit the trail to experience the wicked beauty of mountain laurel

Here are picks for the best places, not in any particular order.

• The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy’s Bear Run Nature Reserve in Fayette County.

• Some less-traveled roads in the Laurel Highlands are a good option as well, according to Bier, including: Skyline Drive, which runs along the spine of Chestnut Ridge just east of Uniontown and south of Route 40 starting at the Summit Inn.

• Bier also suggests a trip to Mount Davis, Somerset County, “another winner for this wildflower, and given that we are approach the end of the peak of its bloom, going to this highest point in the state will provide a good chance to still catch fresh flowers in a cooler habitat.”

• Wolf Rocks, Forbes State Forest, is a little side stop near Mt. Davis.

Edward Callahan, district forester with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources suggests:

• Quebec Run Wild Area, Forbes State Forest, Hess and Tebolt trails.

• Laurel Mountain Trail System, Wolf Rocks, Summit and Fish Run trails in Forbes State Forest.

• Laurel Ridge State Park, Cambria, Fayette, Somerset, and Westmoreland counties.

• Ohiopyle State Park, Ferncliff Peninsula.

• The Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau recommends many of the same areas already mentioned earlier in the article, but they added Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural masterpiece Fallingwater, which is in the Bear Run Nature Reserve, which was one of Bier’s picks.

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