Mary Croghan Schenley was a 14-year old heiress when she ran off with a British sea captain in 1842 to great scandal. She fought a long battle in the courts to keep her inheritance and when she won she donated 300 acres to Pittsburgh on the conditions that the land be called Schenley Park and that it never be sold.

The resulting open space on Schenley Avenue next to the University of Pittsburgh is a classically designed 19th century park with formal gathering places and pastoral landscapes.

Thirty minutes to the northeast you can really get out and hike with your dog in Hartwood Acres. Hartwood Manor, named for a 16th century English country estate, was developed by Mary Flinn Lawrence. In 1969 she offered the estate to Allegeny County as a park after her death and all of a sudden the county had a ready-made crown jewel for its park system.

When you come to Hartwood Acres, you come to walk. There are no recreation or sport facilities on its 629 acres. The manor house, horse stable and outdoor sculptures are still in place to admire before heading out on the rolling dirt trails through the wooded countryside. A spider-web of short and long trails and immaculate horse trails conspire to provide delightful canine hiking in Hartwood Acres.

To get to Hartwood Acres exit from the Pennsylvania Turnpike north of Pittsburgh take Exit 4 (Butler Valley) and go south on Route 8 for two miles. Turn left on Wildwood Road and right on Middle Road for about 1.5 miles until the entrance to Hartwood Acres (on the left).

Doug Gelbert is the author of over 20 books, including The Canine Hiker