Pittsville: Parks, Trails, and Local History

When searching for a hotel in Pittsville, local activities and attractions can help shape your travel plans. Riverside Park offers sports, water activities, and a walking path. Dexter County Park features trails, nature, and opportunities for wildlife viewing. The grounds of the Pittsville Area Historical Society add local history to the mix. This lets you plan your time in Pittsville around the things that interest you most.

Activities in the Parks

Riverside Park offers tennis, basketball, kayaking, canoeing, disc golf, and fishing. There is also a walking path. The range of options includes ball and racquet sports, disc golf, and activities on and by the water. When planning your time in the park, you can start with the activity you want to do: the walking path is a different option from tennis or basketball, while kayaking and canoeing put the water at the center of the experience.

Dexter County Park has hiking and biking trails with loop routes of 1.75, 3.75, and 5.25 miles. The shortest loop is 1.75 miles long and the longest is 5.25 miles; the 3.75-mile loop is in between. These distances give you a concrete way to compare the loops. The park encompasses more than 1,000 acres of wild, undeveloped land, with numerous trails and many opportunities for wildlife viewing. If you want to focus on trails and nature, you’ll find a different emphasis here than at Riverside Park.

Dexter County Park also has two boat launches on Lake Dexter. So, in addition to its hiking and biking trails, the park offers access to the lake. Trails, wildlife viewing, and the boat launches are different aspects of the same park area; when planning, you can decide which matters most for your stay.

Local History and Events

The Pittsville Area Historical Society museum complex includes seven buildings. One of them is the Scranton School, reconstructed on the museum grounds. Visitors can pull the rope and ring the bell at the school today; the original bell is on display inside. This connects a visit to the museum grounds with a hands-on experience involving the school and its bell. The seven buildings give the complex a distinctive scale, while the Scranton School offers a specific historical point of interest.

The Heart and Sole Race is also part of Pittsville’s event calendar: this annual community event is hosted by the Pittsville Fire Company. If you’d like to plan your trip around the race, check the specific event date in advance. That way, you can plan your trip around an event without assuming a date for a particular year.

The offerings differ mainly in their focus: Riverside Park features several sports and water activities, as well as a walking path; at Dexter County Park, the defining themes are loop trails, nature, and wildlife viewing. The museum grounds add local history to these options, while the Heart and Sole Race provides an annual event. When planning your stay in Pittsville, you can first consider whether park activities, trails and nature, a museum visit, or an event matters most to you.

Explore more destinations: Hixton, Black River Falls.

Return to the main travel overview: Jackson County.