Laurel Highlands named a Top 5 summer travel destination by USA Today "10Best" list
The Laurel Highlands region ended up in eye-catching company among USA Today’s Best Summer Travel Destination list.
Among 20 finalists, the destination took fifth place on the “10Best” list, which listed 10 tourism draws from across the U.S.
“If you love the great outdoors, you’ll be smitten with Laurel Highlands, which sits in southwestern Pennsylvania,” USA Today’s readers choice staff wrote.
The Laurel Highlands includes Somerset, Fayette and Westmoreland counties, and the site mentioned Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater and Ohiopyle State Park among its draws.
Officials with GO Laurel Highlands, the region’s tourism and visitors bureau, applauded the news Wednesday.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to be in the Top 5 among national destinations,” senior director of Creative Strategy and Marketing Laura Argenbright said.
She said it speaks to the broad, “remarkable” variety of attractions and offerings that the three county-area features.
She noted Ohiopyle is just next door to Fallingwater and the Great Allegheny Passage trail, which draws hundreds of thousands of hikers and bikers.
“You can have the rich cultural experience of the Westmoreland Museum of American Art within the same footprint as Vail’s resorts in Somerset County,” Argenbright said.
Voters selected their top choices in the online contest earlier this month after finalists were chosen.
The Laurel Highlands topped Ocean City, Maryland, and Alabama’s Gulf Shore region on the list.
Mackinac Island, Michigan – known for its Lake Huron views took first place, followed by the boardwalk and beaches of Ocean City, New Jersey, and Hollywood hotspot Catalina Island, California in third place.
