Pleasant Valley Park - Park in Murrysville - 2557 Pleasant Valley Rd, USA

I really enjoyed my first visit to Pleasant Valley Park. Great work by all the people who maintain it. Location: this park is worth the drive from Pittsburgh's eastern suburbs, at least those between the rivers. The park is located just south of downtown Murrysville. Parking: there are maybe 25 spots in the gravel lot. One thing I appreciated right away is that the lot includes gravel tire stop curbs to denote spaces. Trailheads often become congested early because without lines, people space their cars much more than necessary. These curbs are a simple way to mark spaces. Restroom: there is a portable toilet at the parking lot. Signage: the signage is very impressive. At each junction, or where a pipeline right of way intersects, a small aluminum sign indicates which trail you are on. It's done perfectly. Paired with the excellent map available online, you won't need a GPS to hike this trail. Trail conditions: I visited the park in early December before any snowfall. The surface was hard-packed and mostly free of mud. You can tell there's been an effort to add drainage in problem spots. Nature interpretation: I appreciated signs marking some tree species. On Hank's Trail and Cheeky Chipmunk Trail, I passed signs showcasing a black oak, black walnut, white pine, and tulip poplar. Seating: some benches were found along the way. Trail slopes: Hank's and Cheeky both had lots of ups and downs but nothing was unnecessarily steep. I enjoyed the varied topography. Views: the vistas up and down the pipeline rights of way were kinda interesting. I also liked the meadow area. I'd like to visit again in the summer. Suggested improvement: like most Pittsburgh area trails, there are no marked loops. Perhaps a couple loops, marked with blazes on the existing signs, could be added. Because the trails are named by segments, it can be a little challenging to figure out an ideal loop if it's your first time there. I also wonder if a trail could be added to the top of the hill. I always like hikes with a view from a summit.

I love coming to this park, it has several trails that wind through the forest. Great if you want to take a walk in nature. Also I've never seen too many people here at one time so you can usually get some good peace and quiet in the forest!

Great trail and dogs are able to be off leash. Would be great except for the people who can not control their dogs and the dogs have zero recall. Me and my dog got charged be two medium sized dogs, the owners only yelled the dogs names and didn’t try to put them on a leash.

Kept clean, nice and quiet once you head onto the trails. The trails are easy to follow and marked along the way. Some spots can get muddy depending if it rained.

Great park for hiking with my dogs. Several trails to choose from but easy to get back to where you started as they loop and meet each other. It can be a bit muddy on the trails after wet weather and people ride mountain bikes on them so that seems to increase the muddiness. I expect to get muddy when hiking with my dogs so I don’t mind. Though this park does allow mountain bikers, I have yet to see anyone (though we may be going at non peak times).

I've been to this park a couple of times but if you want to hike I suggest you go to Duff Park instead. The trails at Pleasant valley park are mostly used by mountain bikers. The times I've been I had to always keep an eye on behind me and in front of me for bikers (I also hike with my dog) and I feel like no one ends up enjoying the time there. The trails get very muddy especially because of the heavy bike traffic and I ended up covered in ticks. Some parts of the trails are a bit wild as well. It's not bad but duff park is much more maintained and enjoyable although while Duff Park gets pretty busy, Pleasant valley doesn't.

I absolutely loved the Hanks trail. Hanks trail is the only loop trail in the park. Best marked trail I have been on and I have been on hundreds of trails. Very quite after you walk away from the parking lot, the traffic noise disappears. A lot of people were bringing in their bikes as I was leaving.

Great park with serious parking issues. Residents living near by use the park parking lot as their own making it impossible for others to use the park. It’s a shame such a nice park is being damaged by the neighborhood it’s in. When parking is available it’s a great park to hike.