Whether wandering in the crevices of Frick Park, bird watching in the Seldom Seen Greenway, jogging the Three Rivers Heritage Trail System on the North Shore, or fishing from the gentle banks of the South Side Riverfront Park, Pittsburgh offers residents and visitors an abundance of green space. Pittsburgh’s parks, wooded hillsides and trails account for one-third of all City land. These places, some well traveled and others barely known, provide places for City residents to enjoy our outdoor resources.

Parks traditionally cover wide areas of land and contain every imaginable recreation-from picnic grounds to tennis courts, sports fields to wildflowers-in one defined space. Trails and greenways expand upon and add flexibility to the “park idea” by finding ways to share the landscape with county roads, urban waterfronts, railroad lines, and utility corridors.

Pittsburgh is fast becoming a national hub in a growing regional trail system. Today trails connect many of the assets in Pittsburgh and provide an important opportunity for residents to get direct access to our public riverfronts. The Three Rivers Heritage Trail System along Pittsburgh’s riverfront is emerging as the central commuter corridor for a regional bikeway system. A part of the Great Allegheny Passage, Pittsburgh’s trails are the western end of a network of trails extending east to Washington D.C.