Connellsville lies along the Great Allegheny Passage, a 150-mile trail conceived in 1975 that connects Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to the C&O Canal Towpath in Cumberland, Maryland, forming a significant segment of the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail within the National Trail System. Nearby are Cedar Creek Gorge, 21.8 miles north, with waterfalls, wildflowers, and a suspension bridge; the Great Tufa Formation, 20.5 miles north, a living rock formation created from decaying vegetation and limestone dissolved by carbonic acid and water; Banning, 16.9 miles north, the remnants of a major Pittsburgh Coal Company processing facility that handled up to 500,000 tons of coal per year until closing in 1956; Historic Dawson, 5.5 miles north, named for farmer George Dawson and home to many historic buildings including Memorial United Methodist Church on the National Register of Historic Places; the Sheepskin Trail, 1.9 miles south, leading 2.2 miles to Dunbar where Dunbar Creek and Gist Run converge; and Ferncliff Peninsula, 16.5 miles south, where a sharp bend in the north-flowing river forms a peninsula edged with steep rocky ledges and oak forest that is a National Natural Landmark supporting many rare plants.
