Pittsburgh’s First-Ever Edible Trail Is Open to Visitors

After three years of planning, construction and planting, O’Hara Township has opened the tastiest new path in Woodland Park.

  
photos: o'hara township facebook page and shutterstock
 

In a couple years you won’t have to bother bringing a snack to O’Hara Township’s newest trail — you can just pick one along the way.

The Township unveiled the Lower Valley’s first-ever Edible Trail in late May, featuring pear trees, strawberry bushes, and other flora that visitors will be able to pick at after the plants mature. The trail is a part of O’Hara’s Woodland Park, located on Villa Drive off Dorseyville Road.

Fruit plants are clearly marked so that visitors will know what is safe to eat. The trail, which is about a sixth of a mile long, also includes several bird-friendly habitats.

A sign outside the trail warns hungry walkers not to eat anything they are allergic to and stay away from anything that is not explicitly marked as edible.

The Allegheny County Health Department recently designated O’Hara Township as a “Live Well Allegheny Community” for its installation of the edible trail as well as its support of local farmers’ markets and tobacco cessation.

The O’Hara council began considering constructing an edible trail in 2015 and began construction in 2017. The council eventually approved $10,000 from its 2017 budget to construct the trail, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Pack 381 Cub Scouts pitched in to help plant some of the fruit such as blueberry and raspberry bushes.

Edible trails have become popular recently, sprouting up in several southern states and along the West Coast. The DeYoung edible trail in Leelanau County, Michigan, is home to plums, currants, rhubarb and gooseberries. The Mary’s Creek edible trail in Pearland, Texas features figs, olives, avocados and apricots.