Short answer
Good places to paint plein air in Pennsylvania include Presque Isle State Park - Lake Erie Beaches, Kelly Drive and the Schuylkill River, Fairmount Park, Delaware Water Gap Overlook (Mount Tammany / Arrow Island view), Phillips' Mill, Ricketts Glen State Park - Falls Trail, Bowman's Hill Tower, Washington Crossing Historic Park, Lancaster County Amish Farmland (Strasburg) and Bushkill Falls. PleinScout lists 50 spots in Pennsylvania, each with parking, shade, restrooms and when the light is best. Always check current hours, fees and rules before you go.
These are places painters set up in Pennsylvania, grouped by subject. Each one notes the things that decide whether a session works: where to park, whether there's shade, a restroom nearby, and when the light is best. The full map, with directions and spots added by local painters, is in the free PleinScout app.
Coast, beaches and harbors
Presque Isle State Park - Lake Erie Beaches
Pennsylvania's only seashore-like landscape, a sandy peninsula on Lake Erie. Wide beaches and famous sunsets over open water.
Erie · Best light: sunset · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Lakes, rivers and waterfalls
Ricketts Glen State Park - Falls Trail
A renowned gorge trail strung with two dozen waterfalls under old-growth hemlock. A long downhill hike rewards painters with deep-woods cascade subjects.
Benton · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: lots · Restrooms: yes · Free · Challenging
Pennsylvania Grand Canyon - Pine Creek Rail Trail at Blackwell
A valley-floor vantage on Pine Creek where the canyon walls rise steeply on both sides. Riverbank painting with the gorge framing the scene.
Blackwell · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Bushkill Falls
The 'Niagara of Pennsylvania,' a privately run network of falls and boardwalks in the Poconos. Bridges give dramatic painting vantages over the gorge.
Bushkill · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: lots · Restrooms: yes · Privately owned; admission charged per adult. · Moderate
Brandywine River at Chadds Ford
The very landscape Andrew Wyeth painted for a lifetime. Soft river light, hayfields, and stone farm buildings define the Brandywine palette.
Chadds Ford · Best light: afternoon · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Museum grounds and riverwalk accessible; museum admission separate. · Easy
Penns Creek and Poe Paddy (Bald Eagle State Forest)
A storied wild trout stream threading a deep forested valley. Intimate moving-water and woodland subjects far from the crowds.
Coburn · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: lots · Restrooms: yes · Free · Moderate
Marsh Creek State Park - Lake
A breezy sailing lake in the Brandywine Valley hills of Chester County. Open shoreline, sailboats, and warm light over rolling farm country.
Downingtown · Best light: golden hour · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Presque Isle Lighthouse
A classic Great Lakes lighthouse set among dunes and grasses. A timeless maritime subject with shifting lake light.
Erie · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Tinicum Park and the Delaware River
A peaceful riverfront park in the heart of Bucks County painting country. Wide Delaware views and shaded meadows favored by plein air painters.
Erwinna · Best light: afternoon · Parking: lot · Shade: lots · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
World's End State Park - Loyalsock Creek
A wild, scenic gorge where the Loyalsock bends sharply through the Endless Mountains. Rugged creek-and-forest compositions in a remote setting.
Forksville · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: lots · Restrooms: yes · Free · Moderate
City Island and the Susquehanna at Harrisburg
The wide, shallow Susquehanna framing the capitol dome and historic bridges. Broad river vistas with strong architectural focal points.
Harrisburg · Best light: golden hour · Parking: paid · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Paid parking on City Island; free riverfront views. · Easy
Lake Wallenpaupack Shoreline
A broad reservoir ringed by Pocono woods with open water and quiet coves. Excellent for calm reflections and big sky at day's end.
Hawley · Best light: sunset · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Raccoon Creek State Park - Wildflower Reserve
A celebrated spring wildflower reserve in a wooded stream valley west of Pittsburgh. Intimate woodland-floor and creekside subjects.
Hookstown · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: lots · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Bald Eagle State Park - Foster Joseph Sayers Lake
A quiet central-Pennsylvania lake backed by a long forested ridge. Big reflective water and ridgeline silhouettes at sunset.
Howard · Best light: sunset · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Gifford Pinchot State Park - Pinchot Lake
A peaceful lake amid York County woods and rolling farmland. Sailboats, wooded coves, and calm reflective water at the end of the day.
Lewisberry · Best light: sunset · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Pymatuning Reservoir Spillway and Shoreline
A vast border lake with sweeping open water and wooded shores. Big-sky lake studies and waterfowl scenes in northwestern PA.
Linesville · Best light: sunset · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Delaware Canal Towpath at Lumberville
A serene stretch of the 19th-century canal beloved by Bucks County painters. Still water, tow-path trees, and a quaint suspension footbridge.
Lumberville · Best light: morning · Parking: street · Shade: lots · Restrooms: no · Free · Easy
New Hope Riverfront and Delaware River
The cradle of Pennsylvania Impressionism, where Garber and Redfield worked. River, bridge, and stone-town subjects in every direction.
New Hope · Best light: morning · Parking: paid · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Metered and paid lots in town. · Easy
Ohiopyle State Park - Ohiopyle Falls
A broad, thundering river falls in the Laurel Highlands gorge. An accessible overlook puts the whitewater and forest right before you.
Ohiopyle · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: lots · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Kelly Drive and the Schuylkill River, Fairmount Park
A leafy riverside drive where rowers ply the Schuylkill past stone bridges. River life, foliage, and reflected light in one of America's great urban parks.
Philadelphia · Best light: morning · Parking: street · Shade: lots · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Wissahickon Valley Park - Forbidden Drive
A surprisingly wild creek gorge within Philadelphia, with stone bridges and shaded water. A favorite of generations of city landscape painters.
Philadelphia · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: lots · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Nockamixon State Park - Lake Nockamixon
A scenic Bucks County reservoir with sailboats and wooded coves. Open-water reflections and gentle hills make for restful lake studies.
Quakertown · Best light: sunset · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Allegheny National Forest - Allegheny Reservoir (Kinzua Dam)
A large forest-rimmed reservoir deep in the Allegheny National Forest. Wooded shorelines and calm water under big northern-PA skies.
Warren · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Mountains, canyons and overlooks
Cook Forest State Park - Forest Cathedral
One of the East's finest old-growth pine forests, a true cathedral of trees. Towering trunks and shafts of light reward patient woodland painters.
Cooksburg · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: lots · Restrooms: yes · Free · Moderate
Delaware Water Gap Overlook (Mount Tammany / Arrow Island view)
A grand landscape subject where the Delaware slices through the Kittatinny Ridge. Sweeping ridge-and-river compositions in classic Hudson River School spirit.
Delaware Water Gap · Best light: golden hour · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Free · Moderate
Caledonia / Michaux State Forest Mountain Roads
Forested South Mountain country with streams, laurel, and historic furnace ruins. Quiet woodland and stream subjects in south-central PA.
Fayetteville · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: lots · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Boyd Big Tree Preserve / Blue Mountain near Harrisburg
A wooded ridge preserve above Harrisburg with mature trees and valley views. Quiet forest interiors and ridge overlooks near the capital.
Harrisburg · Best light: afternoon · Parking: lot · Shade: lots · Restrooms: yes · Free · Moderate
Susquehanna River and Pinnacle Overlook (Holtwood)
A dramatic cliff-top view over the broad lower Susquehanna and its islands. One of central PA's finest river panoramas, especially in fall.
Holtwood · Best light: golden hour · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: no · Free · Moderate
Glen Onoko Falls Overlook (Lehigh Gorge State Park)
A dramatic river gorge near Jim Thorpe with steep wooded walls. Paint the gorge and river from the safe access points and rail trail.
Jim Thorpe · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: lots · Restrooms: yes · Free · Moderate
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary - North Lookout
A famous ridgetop raptor sanctuary with vast Appalachian ridge-and-valley views. A short rocky climb yields panoramic forest landscapes.
Kempton · Best light: afternoon · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Trail fee per adult, higher in fall migration season. · Moderate
Kinzua Bridge Skywalk
A dramatic ruined railroad viaduct over a forested gorge with a skywalk overlook. Industrial-heritage and deep-woods subjects combined.
Mount Jewett · Best light: afternoon · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Bowman's Hill Tower, Washington Crossing Historic Park
A historic stone tower in the heart of Bucks County painting country. The wooded valley vistas are the kind that inspired the Pennsylvania Impressionists.
New Hope · Best light: afternoon · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Small fee to climb the tower; grounds access free. · Easy
Mount Washington Overlook (Grandview Avenue)
One of America's great city views, looking down on the Golden Triangle and its rivers. A spectacular subject especially at golden hour and dusk.
Pittsburgh · Best light: sunset · Parking: street · Shade: none · Restrooms: no · Free · Easy
Pine Creek Gorge - Leonard Harrison State Park Overlook
Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon, a deep forested chasm with a creek far below. The rim overlook offers a sweeping, dramatic gorge composition.
Wellsboro · Best light: golden hour · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Hickory Run State Park - Boulder Field
An eerie ice-age boulder field ringed by Pocono woods, a National Natural Landmark. An unusual, geologic study in stone, sky, and forest edge.
White Haven · Best light: afternoon · Parking: lot · Shade: none · Restrooms: yes · Free · Moderate
Towns, historic sites and gardens
Columcille Megalith Park
An otherworldly park of standing stones and a stone chapel in the Slate Belt woods. Moody, sculptural subjects amid trees and meadow.
Bangor · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: lots · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Mercer Museum and Fonthill Castle
Two eccentric concrete castles built by Henry Mercer in the heart of Doylestown. Whimsical turreted architecture set among Bucks County greenery.
Doylestown · Best light: afternoon · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Knoebels Amusement Resort (vintage grounds)
A nostalgic, tree-shaded amusement park in a creek hollow, free to enter. Vintage rides and dappled light offer playful, colorful subjects.
Elysburg · Best light: afternoon · Parking: lot · Shade: lots · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Gettysburg National Military Park - Little Round Top
Hallowed Civil War ground of open fields, stone walls, and bronze monuments. Atmospheric light over the battlefield makes for evocative paintings.
Gettysburg · Best light: golden hour · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Sachs Covered Bridge
A picturesque historic covered bridge over a quiet creek. The classic red-bridge-and-reflection subject in a peaceful rural setting.
Gettysburg · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: no · Free · Easy
Hershey Gardens
A classic hilltop display garden famous for its roses. Tidy floral beds and seasonal color for the flower-focused painter.
Hershey · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Admission charged per adult. · Easy
Jim Thorpe Historic District
A picturesque Victorian mountain town tucked in a steep wooded gorge. Ornate architecture and railroad heritage against fall-colored hillsides.
Jim Thorpe · Best light: afternoon · Parking: paid · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Paid lots and metered street parking downtown. · Easy
Longwood Gardens
One of America's premier display gardens in the Brandywine Valley. Endless floral, fountain, and conservatory subjects across the seasons.
Kennett Square · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Timed-ticket admission; reserve ahead. · Easy
Valley Forge National Historical Park
Open historic fields dotted with log huts and monuments from Washington's winter camp. Big-sky pastoral subjects with Revolutionary history.
King of Prussia · Best light: golden hour · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Fallingwater Exterior Grounds
Wright's iconic house perched above a waterfall, the classic view from the overlook. An architectural-landscape subject like no other.
Mill Run · Best light: afternoon · Parking: lot · Shade: lots · Restrooms: yes · Timed tickets required; reserve well ahead. Grounds-only tickets cheaper. · Easy
Phillips' Mill
The literal birthplace of the New Hope art colony, a romantic stone mill on a wooded creek. Few subjects are more steeped in Pennsylvania Impressionist history.
New Hope · Best light: afternoon · Parking: street · Shade: some · Restrooms: no · Free · Easy
Independence Hall and Old City
America's founding architecture amid cobbled Old City streets. Brick facades and the iconic tower make rich historic-urban subjects.
Philadelphia · Best light: morning · Parking: paid · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Philadelphia Museum of Art and Boathouse Row
The iconic museum, river, and Boathouse Row form Philadelphia's signature riverside composition. Wonderful reflections and golden light at dusk.
Philadelphia · Best light: golden hour · Parking: paid · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Riverbank and parkway free; museum admission and parking separate. · Easy
Point State Park - The Point
Pittsburgh's iconic Three Rivers confluence with its great fountain. Bridges, rivers, and steel-city skyline make for dynamic urban compositions.
Pittsburgh · Best light: golden hour · Parking: paid · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Park free; downtown parking is paid. · Easy
Lancaster County Amish Farmland (Strasburg)
Quintessential Pennsylvania Dutch farm country of barns, silos, and patchwork fields. Paint from public roadsides; be respectful of the Amish community.
Strasburg · Best light: golden hour · Parking: street · Shade: none · Restrooms: no · Free · Easy
Run a plein air group or sketch chapter in Pennsylvania? Get it listed free, with a link to your page.
Find more spots in Pennsylvania
Painters add new spots to PleinScout every week, with photos, parking and the light. Get the free app to see them on the map, or find a paint-out near you.
Hours, fees and rules change. Always check with the park or venue before you go.