Rivers of Steel Heritage Tours has exclusive heritage attractions, offers riverboat tours, and provides full receptive travel planning services in Pittsburgh and southwestern Pennsylvania. Attractions include three national historic landmarks—the Carrie Blast Furnaces, the W.A. Young & Sons Foundry and Machine Shop, and the Bost Building, an interpretive gallery and the Visitors Center for the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area. Signature group tour experiences include “Babushkas and Hard Hats,” which gets to the heart of the steel town story, and “Rebellious Spirits,” a Whiskey Rebellion-themed tour that pairs visits with historical attractions and tasting experiences at contemporary distilleries.
Photo courtesy of Rivers of Steel
With affordable pricing, expert local step-on guides, and one-stop logistics, Rivers of Steel’s receptive travel services help tour operators with itinerary design and offer exclusive experiences. Pittsburgh and southwestern Pennsylvania are a premier, yet affordable, travel destination—a region rich in art, heritage, and culture that offers cosmopolitan experiences, balanced with small-town charms and exceptional natural beauty.
Showcasing the rich heritage and culture of southwestern Pennsylvania, Rivers of Steel’s tours and attractions offer transformative experiences. Venture beyond the Pittsburgh metro area to discover the beauty of the Laurel Highlands, the revolutionary spirit of Washington County, and the unique boutiques, farm-to-table flavors, and celebrated legacies offered up with small-town hospitality in the surrounding counties. Rivers of Steel’s itineraries highlight Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, the Flight 93 National Memorial, the Whiskey Rebellion, and more.
“Babushkas and Hard Hats” is exclusive to Rivers of Steel, and is one of the most popular tours. Exclusive hands-on experiences like the “Pour and Tour” program at the Carrie Furnaces is also a popular addition. It offers travelers a make-and-take aluminum casting workshop where they participate in a hot metal pour! With Rivers of Steel, history is not just told, it’s experienced—and the multifaceted contemporary culture the region offers is presented in context, lacing the past with the future.
Photo courtesy of Rivers of Steel
“Rebellious Spirits—A Whiskey Rebellion Tour” is the newest signature tour, which immerses participants in the revolutionary character of the region, paired with distilled spirits experiences that showcase some of the best of what the region has to offer today. The rolling hills, navigable waterways, and fertile soils of southwestern Pennsylvania offered a landscape attractive to European settlers, a scene that set the stage for the most dramatic moments in our country’s formative years. Tracing George Washington’s trail as a young British soldier at the front lines of the French and Indian War through his time as the first U.S. president responding to the Whiskey Rebellion, this tour connects historic sites with award-winning whiskey distilleries to create a journey rich in flavor and steeped in our nation’s heritage.
On the whole, with all Rivers of Steel’s programming—be it for the public at large, student groups, group travel, or specific communities in the region—groups can expect to walk away having felt they were part of an engaging and unique experience, one born of the character of the region’s heritage that also positions them to think creatively or critically about these places now and in the future.
Lead image:
“Rebellious Spirits—A Whiskey Rebellion Tour”
Photo courtesy of Rivers of Steel
