Tucked away in the southwest corner of Pennsylvania, Shepherd’s Rock Golf Course is one of the few elite courses to open in 2017. Located in Farmington, the new track joins Mystic Rock Golf Course as part of the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, which sprawls over 2,000 acres.
Set in the Allegheny Mountains, Shepherd’s Rock Golf Course is a Pete Dye- and Tim Liddy-designed course that stretches to 7,151 yards from the championship tees. To keep golfers on their toes, the new course features 149 sand traps, along with treed, parkland-style holes and wetlands. Nearly every hole includes an infinity green, which contains a backdrop of mountains or lakes. An entertaining addition to Shepherd’s Rock are the mounted sheep statues throughout the course. They complement the real-life 40 Icelandic sheep that graze in pastures adjacent to several fairways.
Shepherd’s Rock Golf Course
RVers exploring this historical part of the Keystone State will appreciate Ohiopyle State Park, less than 10 miles from Shepherd’s Rock Golf Course. This 20,500-acre state park offers 226 sites within Kentuck Campground.
Some of the sites can accommodate pull-throughs. Campground amenities include 20/30/50 electrical amp power, showers, restrooms, and a dump station. Pets are allowed in some portions of the campground.
Numerous activities can be enjoyed nearby throughout the year, including many on the Youghiogheny (yawki-gay-nee) River. Visitors can go on water slides, whitewater rafting with class three and four rapids, as well as fishing. Numerous trails, totaling 79 miles in all, showcase the spectacular scenery of the Laurel Highlands. The rugged natural beauty of this section of the Laurel Ridge makes Ohiopyle State Park a popular destination with visitors and locals alike.
History buffs will appreciate nearby Fort Necessity Battle Field. The battle at Fort Necessity in the summer of 1754 was the opening action of the French and Indian War. This war was a clash of British, French, and American Indian cultures. It ended with the removal of French power from North America. This set the stage for the American Revolution.
Laurel Caverns is also a popular place to visit nearby. This large natural calcareous sandstone cave is situated beneath a 435 acre privately-owned geological preserve. Most of the passage ceilings in its three mile labyrinth are between 10-20 feet high, with some as high as 50 feet. The average width is about 12 feet. The largest cave in Pennsylvania, Laurel Caverns sits atop of Chestnut Ridge, which results in nothing but pristine water entering the cave.
For more information on Shepherd’s Rock Golf Course, check out the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort website here. You can additionally find more details on camping at Ohiopyle State Park on RV LIFE Campgrounds.
Rick Stedman is an avid golfer, RVer, and writer who lives in Olympia, Washington. Rick writes a golf column, “The RV Golfer,” which is published every month in rvlife.com. He can be reached at rstedman@gmail.com.
That property is a waste of a perfectly good shooting range.