THERAPY: Where do you go for a bit of nature therapy? We’re lucky here in McKean County with so many places to choose from — Kinzua Bridge State Park, Allegheny National Forest, Marilla and so many more.

A Mission for Michael at amfmtreatment.com carried out a survey about the most relaxing places to seek solitude. “Modern life is hectic — and for many Pennsylvanians, anxiety and burnout are daily battles. But sometimes, the best therapy isn’t a prescription — it’s a place. From wind-swept dunes to misty forests, the U.S. is full of natural landmarks that offer instant calm.

Number one was Cherry Springs — “By day, it’s a gentle pine grove. By night, it’s one of the darkest places in the eastern U.S., where the Milky Way spills overhead in high-def clarity. Campers come for the stargazing, but even if you just visit for an hour, it re-centers you. There’s something deeply healing about realizing how small — and how okay — you are.”

Spruce Flats Bog — “This tiny, elevated bog is a hidden pocket of quiet tucked into the Laurel Highlands. A short boardwalk takes you across floating moss and beside stunted tamaracks — a landscape more common in Canada than Pennsylvania. In fall, it turns golden and crimson, and the silence is total. It’s eerie in the best way.”

Ricketts Glen State Park’s Ganoga Waterfall Trail — “While Ricketts Glen is well-known, most visitors rush through the main loop. But take the side trail into Ganoga Glen and you’ll find 10 lesser-visited waterfalls tucked in a wooded ravine, each one more peaceful than the last. The sound of the water and the filtered light through hemlock branches create a kind of hush you don’t often find in the Northeast.”