It’s a well-documented fact that October 1 is the best day of the year. Halloween is *officially* here (as in, I’ve had my stuff up since September 1, but now my normal friends will stop giving me shit about it), it’s generally perfect weather, and there’s no reason to stay in the house when you can run around outdoors somewhere!
We decided to take Layla Grace to Coopers Rock State Park for some scenic sightseeing.
She was really, REALLY ready to go.
Coopers Rock is about an hour and a half south of Pittsburgh, just slightly east of Morgantown in West Virginia. There are a ton of trails you can hike, but since we had the little turtle with us, we headed straight for the overlook.
The overlook is gorgeous, but despite what we had read online, we were at least a week or so too early for the *real* fall foliage. Coopers Rock is one of the best places to see the changing leaves, and it usually hits the end of September. But if you go in the next week, you’ll probably have better luck than us.
Layla Grace didn’t seem to mind all of the greenery, though.
In fact, she could hardly control her excitement.
She settled down enough to pose for a family photo with us.
But she was definitely the smiliest dog at the overlook.
We were starving after the long drive down, so we stopped at the concession stand to have some hot dogs. Layla totally wanted one, but there were some toppings that weren’t for dogs, so she got some extra treats.
After our hot dogs, we decided it was time to take our little meatball for a short hike.
The Underlook Trail is less than a mile round trip, and it has some really awesome views, so we opted for that one. We thought it would be manageable for the turtle.
Here, we finally got to see some fall colors in the trees.
Layla Grace flipped her ear up so she could take in all the sounds of the forest.
The trees are DEFINITELY ready to change in the coming days, so if you can make it down, now is the time!!
No matter what, there are lots of great places to stop and pose for photos. You can easily spend a whole day here, checking out all the different trails and taking lots and lots of photos.
And as you already know, the trails are dog-friendly (on leash). Maybe you’ll discover that your little turtle is actually a terrific rock climber, like ours!
Coopers Rock is close to the city, and has more than enough to keep you entertained for a day away. You can pack a picnic, or buy some yummy snacks at the park shop. Plan to get there early if you visit on a nice day, because parking can fill up. We will surely return for some more trails as our pup gets better at hiking!
Beautiful! I’ll have to send a link to this page to Max; I had no idea before this, but he’s really getting into hiking as well. He just discovered McConnell’s Mills for the first time a few weeks ago!