Emerald View Park

Emerald View Park surrounds the neighborhoods of Duquesne Heights, Mount Washington and Allentown. The urban park that combines pre-existing park space with formerly mined and denuded hillsides was born out of a grassroots effort to protect Mount Washington’s steep hillsides and improve the quality of local park land.

In 2005, following a grassroots effort from within the community, Pittsburgh City Council unanimously voted to create Emerald View Park (formerly Grand View Scenic Byway Park), an expansive 257-acre greenspace that joined together historic park spaces like Grandview, Olympia and Mount Washington (Dilworth) with the Saddle, Duquesne Heights Greenway and other green spaces.  Since then, huge strides have been made in restoring the forested habitat, maintaining the spectacular views, clearing dumpsites, building trails and honoring the Park’s land use history. With the help of many dedicated volunteers, seemingly insurmountable challenges are now a part of the Park’s history. Emerald View Park boasts a growing trail system that offers 10 miles of trails featuring loops that range from one to four miles. Ultimately the trail system will include a 9-mile main loop and almost 11 miles of secondary trails that connect to all nearby regional trails and neighborhoods.

In 2007, Emerald View Park was designated as a Regional Asset District Park and MWCDC obtained a formal Cooperation Agreement with the City of Pittsburgh to serve as a steward. Our work in EVP is guided by the Emerald View Park Master Implementation Plan, Master Trail Plan and the MWCDC Strategic Plan. Dedicated funding for park initiatives comes from sources that are only available for park and greenspace development projects. Since the Park’s inception, the MWCDC has advocated for and secured over $5.2 million in investments.

We are proud to have shared Emerald View Park’s co-management with the City of Pittsburgh for many years, and proud of our recent alliance with the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy for their continued oversight of the park.

Click here for more information on how to volunteer in Emerald View Park!

Read our Grandview Scenic Byway Corridor Management Plan, or our Grandview Scenic Byway Park Trail Plan.