New Beaver, PA

New Beaver is a Lawrence County borough on the Pittsburgh metro’s western edge, and its strongest local feature is a big patch of woods rather than a downtown attraction. Pennsylvania State Game Lands 148 includes about 369 acres off Possum Hollow Road in the borough; the larger game-land tract has parking, gated-road walking, and a 1.9-mile piece of the North Country Scenic Trail. That gives New Beaver a very specific outdoor bearing: look for Possum Hollow, the game lands, and the trail crossing the old township landscape.

The land’s earlier history reaches back before the borough lines. Moravian missionary Christian Frederick Post traveled through in 1758 toward the Native American village of Kush-Kush-Kee, whose leader was known as King Beaver. Later township boundaries and the Wampum Cement and Lime Company shaped the surrounding settlement, while Mohawk Area School District serves local students. New Beaver is the kind of small borough where the map is mostly roads, woods, and neighboring communities, but the game lands make its location unmistakable. If you’re headed through, follow the borough road network toward Wampum and Possum Hollow.