A flat peninsula surrounded by water on three sides, and a maritime history reaching back to the Battle of Lake Erie: Erie offers many different ways to explore. Presque Isle is known for its scenery and activities on the water, while museums, ships, and historic buildings tell other chapters of the region’s story. Forests and wine country add their own distinctive touches.
Presque Isle and the Lake Erie landscape
The 3,200-acre Presque Isle peninsula is completely flat and surrounded by water on three sides. At Presque Isle State Park, you can swim, boat, fish, hike, bike, and inline skate. The park is accessible via PA 832 and can also be reached by boat.
For getting around on foot or by bike, the paved Karl Boyes Multi-Purpose Trail offers a useful point of reference: It is 13 miles long, circles the entire Presque Isle State Park, and is suitable for walking, jogging, and biking. A shorter route is the Greenway Trail in Asbury Woods: It is 2.2 miles long and crosses Walnut Creek. This lets you factor two very different trail lengths into your travel plans while experiencing each natural area in its own way.
The Lake Erie shoreline also reveals a varied landscape. Erie Bluffs State Park is in western Erie County; its 90-foot-high bluffs offer views of the lake. The flat Presque Isle peninsula and the high bluffs of Erie Bluffs give you two striking landscapes on the same lake.
Ships, a lighthouse, and Erie on the water
The Erie Maritime Museum is the home port of the U.S. Brig Niagara. Its exhibits cover the 1813 Battle of Lake Erie, the USS Michigan/Wolverine—the U.S. Navy’s first iron-hulled warship—and Erie’s maritime history. The U.S. Brig Niagara itself is an exact replica of Oliver Hazard Perry’s relief flagship during the battle. Together, the ship and museum provide a tangible point of connection to maritime history.
Another historic date brings us to the Erie Land Lighthouse: Built in 1818, it was the first lighthouse commissioned on the Great Lakes. A lighthouse, a museum, and the reconstructed Niagara thus complement Lake Erie’s natural attractions with distinct maritime perspectives.
History, art, and unique insights
At the Hagen History Center, the “Story of Us” exhibit tells the story of Erie County across 3,000 square feet. It spans the roots of Indigenous communities and the ethnic groups that built the region’s neighborhoods, churches, schools, industrial facilities, businesses, and social clubs. The site also includes Frank Lloyd Wright’s original office in San Francisco. The Erie Art Museum has a different focus: Its collection includes thousands of individual works of art and spans several centuries.
At the Erie Zoo, “Animal Training Experiences” offer a look at live training sessions and show how positive reinforcement supports the animals’ health, enrichment, and daily care. “Animal Connections” include behind-the-scenes glimpses, guided tours, and up-close encounters with animals. If you’re especially interested in the day-to-day work of caring for animals, these two experiences offer different perspectives.
The region’s forests and wine country
Asbury Woods spans 234 acres of wetlands, forests, meadows, streams, and historic buildings. The Greenway Trail runs through the area for 2.2 miles and crosses Walnut Creek. This brings together a variety of landscapes and a defined trail route in a compact area.
Wine is also a hallmark of the region: Lake Erie Wine Country covers 30,000 acres of vineyards and includes more than 20 independent vineyards and commercial wineries along a 50-mile stretch of the Lake Erie shoreline. Experiences include wine tours, conversations with winemakers, and other immersive offerings. If you’d like to plan a specific experience, check the dates with the winery. North East is the starting point of Lake Erie Wine Country in Erie County.
Discover more destinations: Erie, North East, Edinboro, Corry, Clearfield, Crawford County, Monroe, Dauphin.
For the broader travel overview: Pennsylvania.
