Local National Parks Have Summer Fun For All Ages

PITTSBURGH (NewsRadio 1020 KDKA) - Did you know western Pennsylvania boasts five National Parks within driving distance? Fun events are scheduled throughout the summer at the Johnstown Flood National Memorial, the Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site,  Fort Necessity,  the Flight 93 National Memorial, and the Friendship Hill National Historic Site.

KDKA-AM's Larry and John talk to Mary Ellen Snyder, Management Assistant for the  National Park Service, about what parks are in our area and what events you can get involved in.

"Kids want to do something different in the summer," says Snyder. "All of our national parks are free for kids under 16, and there's a lot of fun things for families to do with children."

Snyder says that while most people wouldn't think of the Flight 93 Memorial to be a place to visit with kids, there will also be interesting events and activities there.

"A lot of children don't have any memory of what happened as the parents do," says Snyder. "This year, we have an activity called a discovery table. The staff and the volunteers have pulled together tributes that people have left there over the last 12 years to memorialize the passengers and crew, and there's a lot of information for the families about how to honor the passengers and crew through the tributes that were left."

For more information about our National Parks, visit http://www.nps.gov.