From our campsite at Red Bridge, we could easily walk to the beautiful bank of Kinzua Bay, a man-made lake created in the 1960s when the Kinzua Dam was constructed to control flooding of the Allegheny River. From here in the heart of the Allegheny National Forest, the water flows 198 miles to Point State Park in the heart of Pittsburgh where it merges with the Monongahela River to form the Ohio River. Who knew the Kinzua Dam protected our pretty city from flood waters? Camping’s providing an unexpected yet welcome education.