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| - Without knowing too much about this area, we went specifically to go hiking on the Emerald View Trail, and it was a pleasant surprise. We parked at Olympia Park, near the dog play area, and walked down to the dead end of Hallock Street, where the trail begins. We hiked for approx. two and a half hours, and made our way from one end of the trail, all the way through the woods and ended up on Mt. Washington at the "Points of View" statue (This statue of George Washington & Chief Guyasuta has its own Yelp listing, just search for "Points of View."). We saw urban ruins of old foundations, some small streams, walked over top of the Fort Pitt Tunnel, all the way over and above the West End Circle. We saw great views of the river and bridges, and of the city. There were lots of trail markers, and a lot of other cross-trails that we could've taken. Also, there were a few breaks where you had to walk on the street for a short while, or cross over some streets, but it was pretty easy staying on the trail. Some of the areas were a little rough at times, and there were a lot of elevation changes, not too steep, but you do go up and down quite a bit. After we got to the end of the trail on Mt. Washington, we followed Grandview Ave. back to Hallock Street to our car (with a short stop at the Duquesne Incline and lookout), which really didn't take too much time at all. This trail is a hidden urban treasure, and I thought it was well worth giving it a try. Note: bring water, as there are no places to get a drink along the way, and we did encounter one port-a-john (didn't need to use it), but there were no other facilities along the trail.
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