Lake Erie Live Cam

• North West

A beautiful peninsula with beaches and trails

Erie is Pennsylvania's fourth largest city. Located in the northwest corner of the state, Erie is successfully maintaining its traditional reputation as a important industrial center. But, Erie is also a major tourist attraction.

On Pennsylvania's only seashore, Erie boasts seven miles of, clean, sandy, fresh-water beaches on the Presque Isle peninsula, jutting into Lake Erie, a beautiful, natural setting for the Commonwealth's largest state park. A registered national natural landmark, recognized internationally as an ecological gem, the park offers a unique mix of nature and recreation. The Park hosts about four million visitors a year, yet never seems crowded, because of its size and diversity.

At the entrance to the park, you will find Waldameer Park and Water World, a fine family amusement park with giant water slides, a 100-foot gondola ferris wheel overlooking Presque Isle, and many other exciting rides, all in a beautiful wooded area with multiple large and small picnic pavilions.

Presque Isle Bay and the nearby lake are famous for boating and fishing. Charter boats are available. Erie is also experiencing substantial growth as a regional shopping center, with visitors from nearby states and Canada taking advantage of the lack of state sales tax on food and clothing.

Accommodations are available for every budget and taste, and all the major restaurant chains are here, as well as many fine independent family-style and fine-dining establishments. Erie is also known for its lovely residential areas and many historic sites.

Travel the new Bayfront Parkway downtown to a redeveloping waterfront and the U.S. Brig Niagara, relief flagship of Com. Oliver Hazard Perry, from which he won the Battle of Lake Erie that helped to decide the War of 1812. She has been restored as a seaworthy sailing vessel, and is now the official Flagship of Pennsylvania. While downtown, see the maritime museum and Blasco Memorial Library.

Also visit Discovery Square, with its children's and art museums, restored Perry Memorial House and Dickson Tavern, a stop on the Underground Railroad before the Civil War, the historical museum and planetarium and the Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne Memorial Blockhouse. The Erie Zoo has more than 300 animals in natural habitats, with a focus on the African jungle.

What do you get when you have 7 miles of natural beaches (Presque Isle), a great lake (Lake Erie), a friendly community that is big enough to have AA Baseball and OHL Hockey but small enough that the longest drive in town is around 20 minutes, and a community attitude where a smile to a stranger isn't a foreign concept? You get Erie, PA! We hope you enjoy your visit to our great city and sincerely wish you to make repeat visits or consider calling Erie home! Please visit the attractions below to see all of what Erie has to offer. If you can't find what you're specifically looking for, then please contact us and we'll do our best to help you out!

The outdoor experience in the Erie area is neither limited to the splendor of Presque Isle State Park nor constrained by the seasons. The area's unique mix of lakeside, riverine and mountain environments, of city and countryside attractions, virtually guarantees that at least someone somewhere in the region is having fun in the great outdoors. Whether for scuba diving or snorkeling along Pennsylvania's 40-mile Lake.

Erie shore, hiking through the region's many nature preserves and green spaces, or bicycling along the area's quiet country roads, Erie is a great place to start an adventure.

Lake Erie and its tributary streams such as Elk Creek, Walnut Creek, and Raccoon Creek attract anglers from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Ontario and beyond for classic game fish species such as yellow perch, walleye, steelhead trout, bass, northern pike, and muskellunge. And the fishing doesn't stop when the water freezes: The action just moves from the rivers and streams to the ice fishing huts that dot Presque Isle Bay in the deep winter months.

Erie's proximity to the mountainous region of western New York also makes it a viable point of departure for ski trips to world-class ski resorts such as Peek 'N Peak, where winter sport enthusiasts will find great facilities for downhill and cross-country skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing and the always essential hot toddy by a roaring fire. A more rugged cross-country skiing experience can be had at any one of the 20 state game lands in the county, none of which is more than a 40-minute drive from Erie.

From major shopping centers at the Millcreek Mall and further south on Peach Street and even further south in Grove City to the mom and pop shops that have been doing business in Northwest PA for generations, we have the products and services you are looking for. We invite you to explore not only the major shopping areas but also the places that are unique and homegrown to Northwest PA. We know you won't be disappointed when you explore the diversity of shopping in our region.

Erie is a great sports town. Erie boasts OHL Hockey with the Erie Otters at the Tullio Arena and AA Baseball with the Detroit Tiger-affiliated Erie Seawolves at Jerry Uht Park. The always popular Erie Rugby Club holds matches at Bakers Field as well. Erie also has lots of great high school and college sporting events (everything from soccer and swimming to lacrosse and basketball) plus flag football, volleyball, basketball, softball, soccer, racquetball, and much more for the "weekend warrior." If you wish, you're also two hours or less away from professional sporting events in Cleveland, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh.