The Fourth of July is the top summer vacation weekend. Highways are full and passenger planes are too.

But thousands of people will mark this holiday in the Butler County area.

From campgrounds to swimming pools and from parks to shopping many people are finding the county a good place to be for the next few days.

Jack Cohen, president of the Butler County Tourism & Convention Bureau, said he expects Moraine and McConnells Mill state parks, the Jennings Environmental Center, and other venues to be packed with people.

“They’ll be busting at the seams,” Cohen said. “We’ll know that folks within the driving range will be filling up at the park, and it’s a wonderful time to be out there.”

Based on numbers from the past few years, Moraine manager Dustin Drew expects 30,000 to 35,000 people to visit the park over the three-day weekend, as well as 6,000 to 9,000 people to visit McConnell’s Mill.

As Cohen expects most of the people to be local or traveling from within a two-hour radius, he doesn’t expect the hotels to be filled much.

“Normally this time of year we have people going on vacation a lot,” he said. “So they’re normally calm; a lot of one-night stays this time of year.”

Drew said the good weather forecast will help draw people.

“I think the weather’s probably the biggest (factor),” he said.

For The Premium Outlets in Springfield Township near Grove City this is as big a weekend as it gets all year.

Michele Czerwinski, the mall’s director of marketing, says it is the biggest weekend of the season.

The Fourth of July is when stores start making way for fall and back-to-school merchandise, Czerwinski said, which means plenty of sales and other enticements that bring shoppers to the outlets.

“It really kicks off on Friday,” Czerwinski said. “This is such an important weekend for us. And a lot of people really have made it a tradition. They pick a day, come out and spend the whole day shopping.”

Other people will spend the weekend at sporting events.

The parks in Cranberry Township will be extra busy as the township is the site of one of the largest youth softball tournaments in the state.

The Battle in the Burgh, hosted by Pittsburgh Power Softball, is taking place Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The girls tournament has reserved five fields in the Community Park on Route 19 and two fields in Graham Park, said Pete Geis, township parks and recreation director.

It also is holding some games at Connoquenessing Elementary School, the Pittsburgh Pride fields in Jackson Township and Blueberry Park in Allegheny County.

The tournament has 143 teams in five age divisions, according to Pittsburgh Power’s website. Each team has 11 or 12 players, meaning about 1,500 girls will compete, plus thousands of family members.

The event has been going on for about 20 years and draws in teams from out of state. Some college coaches come to scout players too.

“It’s not considered a pure showcase, but there are some college coaches who come and watch,” said organizer Joe Decristoforo.

Because of the tournament and the holiday weekend, most other sports leagues in the township did not schedule games, Geis said.

But the park staff does expect the water park in North Boundary Park to be busy. Since opening in early June, it has been filled to capacity on the weekends, he said.

Campgrounds also are expecting increased crowds, including the Smith Grove Campground in Clearfield Township and Buttercup Campground in Renfrew.

According to Ed Tamski, owner of Buttercup Campground, the campground is full for the holiday weekend, reaching about 2,000 people.

But that increase is only about 10 percent more than what the typically busy campground sees on an average weekend.

“We stay fairly high occupancy every weekend,” he said. “We’re very lucky that we’re close to many of the main attractions and businesses in the area so we pick up a little more occupancy that way.”

The Smith Grove Campground also is booked for this weekend, according to manager Andi Hirst.

But again, that is just the typical Fourth of July weekend, she said.

In East Brady, the borough is not planning any events like fireworks since those will take place during RiverFest on July 15-17, according to borough secretary and treasurer Susan Buechele.

Yet, the borough is prepared for increased activity on the Allegheny River.

“We do have a lot of boating activity.” she said, anticipating that a lot of people will be there for the weekend.

“The river is wonderful. The weather is wonderful. We’re just very lucky right now that the river is nice and clean and calm.”

Bicyclists and walkers are expected to hit the Butler-Freeport Community Trail in southeastern Butler County.

Chris Ziegler, the president of the trail board, said that the opening last year of Fellowship Bridge, which connects the trail to Butler, has “exponentially” increased the trail’s use.

Ziegler said that people staying at campgrounds and visitors on day trips are expected to take advantage of the trail’s 40-mile round trip this weekend.

“It’s a nice bike ride and a family-and-friends picnic, all in one day,” Ziegler said. “What more could you ask for?”

The holiday actually draws business away from the county’s Alameda Park off New Castle Road in Butler Township.

Gary Pinkerton, director of county parks and recreation, said July 4 is one of the slower days of the summer for the swimming pool.

Compared to a Saturday, when all 14 park shelters typically are reserved, Monday has only two rented.

Pinkerton said Alameda Pool, which is in the park, should do well Saturday, but won’t be as busy Monday.

To entice swimmers, the pool is offering half price admission for patrons wearing red, white and blue on Monday.

“We actually staff down to save money,” Pinkerton said about the holiday.

Eagle staff writers Aaron McKrell, Tom Victoria, Joe Genco, Phillip Rau and Amanda Spadaro contributed to this report.