Residents, business owners celebrate Ohiopyle’s ‘best small town’ designation (2024)

Borough beat 19 other places in Northeast for USA Today’s readers’ choice award

The announcement proclaiming Ohiopyle as the “Best Small Town in the Northeast” was met with both surprise and validation by locals who are hoping it will help the tiny borough step out of the shadow of the popular state park that shares its name.

“I think so many people already come to the area, we would like people to stay here longer and see all the attractions,” said Pamela Kruse, who is a local business owner and borough councilwoman. “We’ve been here so long, we consider ourselves the star attraction.”

Local and state dignitaries gathered Wednesday afternoon at the train station nestled beside the Great Allegheny Passage to announce that Ohiopyle was voted as the winner of USA Today’s readers’ choice competition, beating out 19 other heavy hitters in the Northeast that included Gettysburg.

“It’s so hard to believe,” said Kruse, who owns Falls Market Restaurant & General Store and Ohiopyle Coffee in town. “There were big names on that list.”

Residents and business owners learned of the designation earlier in the week and were excited about how the honor could help promote the borough. While many people visit Ohiopyle State Park for the hiking, rafting and scenic settings, they come into town to shop, eat and stay overnight.

“We’re hoping it means a lot. We’re the outdoor mecca for the area,” said Joel Means, who owns the Ohiopyle Trading Post and River Tours with his wife, Robin. “Most people are confused that (Ohiopyle) is a borough. They think it’s part of the park.”

The contest included places with populations less than 25,000, and Ohiopyle takes that small town feel to the next level with just 38 people counted in the 2020 Census. But Kruse estimates there are currently only 13 residents permanently living in the borough. That tiny population pales in comparison to the more than 1 million people who visit the 20,500-acre state park that surrounds the borough.

The heavy tourism season used to be bookended between Memorial Day and Labor Day, but the advent of Airbnb vacation rental homes has given more visitors the opportunity to stay longer. While the small town designation is focused on just the borough, Kruse thinks the publicity will give the region and its many tourist attractions a jolt, with people visiting more in the off-season and staying overnight.

“People can experience the area all seasons. The biggest challenge was getting people out of the day-trip mentality,” Kruse said. “Ohiopyle is free. It’s never mattered – the economy has gone up and down – and you can do all these things for free. That’s what makes it so special to visit.”

Ohiopyle attracts tourists far and wide, from people in western Pennsylvania looking for a staycation to out-of-state residents who travel hundreds of miles to visit.

Jim and Cassie King were eating ice cream with their dogs, Josie and Jaxon, by their side enjoying the nice weather Tuesday afternoon on the patio outside Falls Market. The couple drives four hours from their home in Marysville, Ohio – a city of about 25,000 people northwest of Columbus – at least once a year to visit. Jim King said they make regular trips because Ohiopyle has a “small town feel” with hiking trails, a beautiful river and falls, campgrounds and, of course, ice cream.

“Whenever I tell people we go to Ohiopyle, they think it’s in Ohio,” he said with a laugh. “It’s the closest thing to Eden I’ve found. We don’t have this kind of topography in Ohio. It’s worth the drive.”

That feeling is also experienced by the people who live and work in Ohiopyle.

Demetrius Johnson does both after moving to the borough a couple of years ago from his hometown of Greensburg. He thought the best small town designation was a well-earned honor for a place that he now calls home.

“I honestly think it’s pretty huge. Ohiopyle is a great place,” Johnson said while cleaning the façade of a local ice cream shop in preparation for the approaching tourism season. “There’s a sense of community here. It doesn’t matter your background. Everyone is really accepting here.”

But with increased visitors, there are added stresses to infrastructure, such as roads and sewage. Kruse noted that the borough held their first of what will be an annual Youghtoberfest celebration last fall to help raise money for upgrades to the borough’s water treatment facility.

“People don’t understand the infrastructure (stress) that 1.5 million people put on a town of 13 residents,” Kruse said. “We need to make some improvements to the town. We don’t want to just be known as Ohiopyle State Park. We want to be known as Ohiopyle the town.”

With that designation and likely increase in visitors, Kruse and her mother, Sharon, see it as an opportunity to showcase the history of the borough, including old buildings like the Ohiopyle United Methodist Church. Even industrial buildings that are no longer there or commercial structures that were removed when the state park was formed in the late 1960s should be celebrated.

She also hopes the “best small town” rating will push more stores to remain open throughout the year, giving visitors additional reasons to spend money and continue to boost the local business district.

“I would hope more people would come and check it out,” Kruse said. “It’s such a beautiful place.”

Means agreed, and pointed over to the picturesque Ohiopyle Falls along the Youghiogheny River directly across Route 381 from his business that is the main attraction for visitors and drives the borough’s economy.

“If it weren’t for that waterfall, none of us would be here,” Means said. “That waterfall makes it happen.”