text: starsnnRiverview Park is considered the gem of Pittsburghs North Side and it was created in It predates the City of Alleghenys annexation to the City of Pittsburgh in It is home to the Allegheny Observatory a visitors center and the Mairdale Watershed It is also got many recreational amenities such as a swimming pool playground baseball diamonds and of course hiking trailsnnAnd it was the hiking that brought me and my girlfriends here this past weekend We are avid hikers and we would never been here before There is nothing quite like hiking on a beeyouteefull October day Now granted we prefer hiking on cool fall days when that crisp bite in the air gets our blood going But hey when the weathers this great who cares nnWe met up at the visitors center which is accessible from Perrysville Avenue and Watson Boulevard via Riverview Avenue We began with an easy hike going counterclockwise on the Observatory Trail This is an approximately mile loop and it gives you a great overview of the Observatory and the park We then crossed the main road and entered the east end of the park via the Old Kilbuck Trail We then made a clockwise loop via the Leaning Ash Trail the Marshall Trail the Ground Hog Haven Trail and the Old Zoo Trail Then we made our way down the Overlook Trail to the Chapel Shelter nnBy this point we hiked about miles and decided to take a snack break I have type diabetes so I needed to sugar up The Chapel Shelter is a remnant of a former Presbytarian church restored by the Pittsburgh Parks Conservacy in The restoration included creating a new trail planting of native species and the clearing out of invasive species nnFrom this point we decided to take it up a notch a little bit Resuming our clockwise direction we returned to the Overlook Trail and then took that to the Snyders Point Loop Trail We looped on that before taking the Deer Hollow Trail back to the Overlook Trail and then returning to the visitors center nnAfter taking another break here we decided to kick it in even more We decided to go for the rigorous hike as recommended by the parks website We hit the Wissahickon Trail and then went up towards the parks northern edge via the Archery Trail the Snowflake Trail and back east via the Archery Trail again But then the hike grew more difficult We resumed the Wissahickon Trail arced around the picnic grove before taking the steps up to the road and followed it to the Bob Harvey Trail We followed that trail to the Bear Pit then paused to catch our breath pant pant before returning to the Visitors Center Man that last part of our hike really had some steep ups and downs nnSo as Rachel said this is a stunning park and it is well worth your visit But the trails are not well marked and you would be wise to bring a map The parks website httpwwwpittsburghparksorguserdocsriverviewletterpdf has a good one Although I recommend using a good topography map along with the parks map A topo map will show you what you are getting into on the trails We hiked almost miles without leaving the parks borders Man I must have sweated off lbs on that hike