Things to Do in New Castle

Named for the sunny yellow birdsfoot trefoil flowers strewn throughout the course—sprouted from seeds that fell off hay wagons rumbling through years ago on the fields of the former Buffalo Creek Farms—the championship golf course at Birdsfoot Golf Club enchants golfers with rolling hills and country charm. The links-style front nine give way to a back nine whose fairways open over hills, inviting golfers to pull out their drivers and whack dimpled orbs with the club-swinging gusto usually reserved for cracking eggs into an omelet pan. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette highlights the course’s 465-yard third hole as one of the 18 best public holes in western Pennsylvania, citing its mounded fairway, which doglegs left and challenges putts with a downhill, sloped green. As carts zoom from one hole to the next, they traverse a path where bogeyman faces carved by a local artist peer from tree trunks. When players finish their rounds, they can unwind in a clubhouse where ghosts from its former life as a farmhouse offer advice on covertly changing scorecard results.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 72 course

• Length of 7,034 yards

• Course rating of 74.4

• Slope rating of 137

• See an interactive course tour

Dawn has settled its warm glow upon the trees dappling 60-acres of rolling farmland, beckoning sleepy campers forth from their tents to admire the golden morning unfolding around them. This serene scene at Bear Run Campground rings in a day filled with leisure and excitement, the calm of relaxed breakfasts followed by the splashes of outdoor enthusiasts embarking upon aquatic adventures in rental kayaks. Since its founding in 1975 by the Wehr family, Bear Run has accommodated all types of campers with a variety of lodgings, ranging from cabins and rental units outfitted with all the comforts of home to primitive tenting sites equipped with nothing but a clear space for a tent and a post to tie up pet pterodactyls. Amenities include a heated swimming pool, a game room, and a softball field, and staff also organize camp-wide activities.

While vacationing in Ocean City, Maryland, the future founders of The Board discovered standup paddleboarding. Inspired by this easy means of exploring watery avenues, they took the idea and ran with it, setting up shop in the inland town of Beaver Falls in 2010. It was there that they sculpted and sanded their own brand of wooden paddleboards and made them available for buyers and renters. They also stock epoxy and inflatable boards that customers can use to skim western Pennsylvania's flat-water rivers or paddle the Great Lakes. Customers can also procure wakeboards, kneeboards, and kayaks to propel themselves down waterways or Paul Bunyan-sized bathtubs. In addition, on-land travelers can ogle new and used skateboards, which dangle from the shop walls and a variety of wheels and hardware filling its display cases.