Botanical Society of Western Pennsylvania


BSWP 2021 Zoom meetings

View BSWP's May 2022 Zoom meeting.

April 2022 Meeting.

March 2022 Meeting.

February 2022 Meeting

January 2022 Meeting.

The 2020 and 2021 Zoom meeting video links can be found on the Activities page.


BSWP Meetings

The Society meets monthly from September through June on every second Monday of the month at 7:15 p.m. For now, our meetings take place via Zoom.

Members who have joined the BSWP e-mail list will be contacted and e-mailed an invitation (link and password) to each monthly meeting.

Directions to in-person meetings, when held

To Ford Mateer Classroom of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History:

The entrance to the parking lot, which is gated, is just past the Museum at the intersection of Forbes and Craig Street. The Ford-Mateer Classroom is reached through the Portal Entry in the rear parking lot area. Once inside the building, the room is located just beyond the Security desk on the left. In addition to the Museum parking lot, which costs $6, there are metered spaces on Forbes Avenue opposite the Museum and along Craig Street that are free after 6 p.m. From there you will cross the street and walk through the right side of the gates to the parking lot. Continue on the sidewalk to the rear of the building where you will see the sign for “Portal Entry” ahead. 

If you do not park in the Museum’s lot, from Forbes Avenue, walk along the right side of the parking toll gates to the parking lot. Continue on the sidewalk to the rear of the building where you will see the sign for "Portal Entry" ahead. 

Directions to the Carnegie Museum 
http://www.carnegiemuseums.org/interior.php?pageID=36


BSWP Field Trips www.botsocwpa.org

Registration for Botanical Society field trips is not required. Everyone is welcome, including non-members. Trips last 3 to 4 hours but one can leave at any time. For questions, contact the field trip leader or Loree Speedy at (724) 518-6022 (cell) or loreespeedy@gmail.com. Add these BSWP field trips  to your Google Calendar: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0?cid=Ym90c29jd3BhQGdtYWlsLmNvbQ

Sunday, September 14, 2025, 1:00 PM

Hays Woods Park, Allegheny County 

Leader: Pittsburgh Park Ranger MJ Walting

MJ Watling, the Hays Woods Park Ranger, will guide us on a botanical excursion of the Hays Woods, as we prepare a plant list for the site. All are welcome; come to learn the plants or to help with identification. Bring water and sturdy footwear. 

Directions: Meet at the Agnew Trailhead.  

GPS coordinates: 40.39825, -79.96319    
Google Maps Link to Agnew Trailhead


Tuesday, September 16, 2025
11:30 AM (lunch), 12:00 Noon
Buttermilk Falls off the Cowanshannock Trail
Armstrong County 

Leader: Meg Scanlon; Cell: 724-612-6192

We will meet at the Bernard C. Snyder picnic area, located just off of State Route 1033 and McMillen Road north of Kittanning. A newly completed 1¼ mile crushed limestone trail leads to a secret Buttermilk Falls! 

Directions: Travel PA 28 North to the exit for PA-28N/US 422/ Kittanning. Continue straight onto PA28N/PA66N/New Bethlehem. In 3 miles, turn left onto Iron Bridge Road. After ¾ mile, make the first right onto McMillen Road. Continue 2 miles to trailhead parking on the right.

GPS coordinates: 40.85066, -79.50721    
Google Maps Link to McMillen Road Trail Parking.


Sunday, September 21, 2025, 1:00 PM
Fall Run Park, Glenshaw, Allegheny County

On September 23, 1911, members of the Botanical Society of Western Pennsylvania alighted from an interurban electric car and traveled down the slope to the swampy floodplain of Pine Creek. From there, they started up the ravine of Fall Run. Fourteen species of asters were observed, along with several goldenrods, spikenard, sunflowers, willows, and many more. 

Read about this trip in Publication 1, page 5 of the Trillia - Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Western Pennsylvania Number 1, online at Trillia.

We will  observe what has persisted and what has disappeared over 114 years! Today the site is an easy but uphill climb to a 15 foot waterfall, for about 1.6 mile out-and-back hike.  

Directions:  Fall Run Park is located at 187 Fall Run Road in Glenshaw, PA, just off Route 8 north of Pittsburgh. From PA 28 Exit 5, travel PA 8 north about 2.6 miles and turn right onto Fall Run Road. Turn left into the park after you cross the bridge and continue to the parking lot. 

GPS coordinates: 40.52992, -79.94822    
Google Maps Link to Fall Run parking

Sunday, October 5, 2025, 1:00 PM
Conemaugh Gap in S.G.L. 153, Indiana County

Leader: Loree Speedy, loreespeedy@gmail.com, 724‑518-6022 (cell)

We will hike to an overlook of the Conemaugh River’s Packsaddle gap. Interesting plants include a straggly hackberry and leather-leaf meadow rue. We will join the Botanical Society of Westmoreland County.

Directions: From Pittsburgh, travel US 22 east toward Blairsville. After passing the Blairsville Walmart, take the exit on the right for US 119 Indiana. At the end of the ramp, turn left toward Blairsville. Then make an immediate left onto Pine Ridge Road. Passing the parking lot for Hampton Inn/Chestnut Ridge, after 1000 feet, bear to the right onto Strangford Road (unmarked). Travel Strangford Rd for 1.25 mile and make a sharp left onto Oaks Point Road. Continue up Oaks Point Road (which becomes a gravel road) for a little over 1 mile to a S.G.L. 153 parking lot.

GPS Coordinates: 40.4239, -79.1987.  
Google Maps Link to Conemaugh Gap Parking
The coordinates will take you a slightly different way to Oaks Point Road.