Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery
Philadelphia & The Countryside
Where the nation began, ringed by gardens and river towns
Independence National Historical Park · Longwood Gardens · Valley Forge National Historical Park
Pennsylvania, from the Delaware to Lake Erie
Big woods, small towns, and a lot of history.
State parks and waterfalls, battlefields and railroads, Amish farmland, mountain trails and some of the finest gardens and museums in America.
High Rocks above Tohickon Creek, Ralph Stover State Park, Bucks County. Photo: PA Getaway
Pennsylvania is bigger and wilder than most people expect. Between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh lie long mountain ridges, deep river gorges, waterfall glens and millions of acres of forest, with Amish farmland, battlefields of the Revolution and the Civil War, old coal towns and Victorian main streets along the way.
PA Getaway gathers the places worth going to, from great gardens and city museums to state parks, rail trails and small towns, with the plain facts you need to plan a day out or a weekend away. Start with an idea below, pick a region, or browse everything by county.
422 places in all eleven regions, and counting.
- Waterfalls and gorges Where to see falling water in Pennsylvania, from the tall falls of the Delaware Water Gap to the glens of Ricketts Glen and the rapids of Ohiopyle.
- Big woods and dark skies A loop through the Pennsylvania Wilds, with old-growth forest, wild elk, a deep river gorge and some of the darkest night skies in the East.
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Rail trails
Pennsylvania's best old railroad beds for walking and cycling, from the Great Allegheny Passage to the Pine Creek gorge and the Schuylkill.
- Railroads and coal country Steam trains, mountain railroad landmarks, and the mines and patch towns of Pennsylvania's anthracite region.
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Where America was made
The forts, halls and battlefields where Pennsylvania saw the start of the French and Indian War, the founding of the nation and the turning point of the Civil War.
- Classic amusement parks Pennsylvania's old-time amusement parks, with wooden roller coasters, antique carousels and shady picnic groves.
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Underground Pennsylvania
Show caves with boat rides and glittering formations, and old coal mines you can ride into.
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Gardens worth the drive
The public gardens of Pennsylvania worth planning a whole day around, from Longwood and the Main Line to Hershey, State College and Pittsburgh.
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New Hope
A riverside arts town across the bridge from Lambertville, with galleries, the Bucks County Playhouse, the canal towpath and a heritage railroad.
- Lititz A Moravian town founded in the 1750s, with a stately church square, a spring-fed park and a lively main street long associated with pretzels and chocolate.
- Jim Thorpe A Victorian coal-and-railroad town packed into a steep Lehigh River gorge, with ornate brick streets, a mansion museum, river rafting, bike trails and excursion trains.
- Wellsboro A Tioga County seat with gas streetlights along a tree-shaded Main Street, a village green, and the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon a short drive away.
- Bellefonte A Victorian county seat of ironmasters' mansions and governors' homes, built around the Big Spring and Talleyrand Park, with trout fishing on Spring Creek.
- Ligonier Built around a green Diamond with a bandstand, a small Laurel Highlands town with shops and cafes in old storefronts, a reconstructed fort and the mountains close by.
Lehigh, Northampton
Lehigh Valley
Moravian Bethlehem, steel history and the Lehigh River
Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites · National Museum of Industrial History · Crayola Experience
Carbon, Monroe, Pike, Wayne
Pocono Mountains
Waterfalls, lakes and a Victorian town in a river gorge
Bushkill Falls · Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area · Jim Thorpe
Bradford, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Schuylkill, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Wyoming
Upstate PA
Waterfall glens, coal country and the Endless Mountains
Ricketts Glen State Park · Steamtown National Historic Site · Hawk Mountain Sanctuary
Adams, Berks, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry, York
Dutch Country Roads
Amish farmland, Gettysburg and a town built on chocolate
Gettysburg National Military Park · Hersheypark · Strasburg Rail Road
Columbia, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder, Union
Valleys of the Susquehanna
River towns, quiet forests and an old-time amusement park
Knoebels Amusement Resort · Lewisburg · Shikellamy State Park
Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk, Forest, Jefferson, Lycoming, McKean, Potter, Tioga, Warren
Pennsylvania Wilds
Big forests, dark skies, wild elk and a canyon
Leonard Harrison State Park · Cherry Springs State Park · Kinzua Bridge State Park
Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Centre, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Mifflin
The Alleghenies
Railroad history, long ridges and the valleys between
Horseshoe Curve · Johnstown Flood National Memorial · Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site
Fayette, Somerset, Westmoreland
Laurel Highlands
Whitewater, Wright houses and the state's highest ground
Ohiopyle State Park · Fallingwater · Flight 93 National Memorial
Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington
Pittsburgh & Its Countryside
Three rivers, steep hills and a city of great museums
Point State Park · Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens · Duquesne Incline
Erie, Crawford, Mercer, Venango
Great Lakes Region
Lake Erie beaches and the birthplace of the oil industry
Presque Isle State Park · Drake Well Museum and Park · Oil Creek State Park
Through the year
When to go
Spring
The gardens around Philadelphia fill with magnolias, azaleas and dogwoods in April and May, wildflowers carpet the woods at Bowman's Hill, and the waterfalls of Ricketts Glen run full.
Summer
Swim off the beaches of Presque Isle, raft the Youghiogheny or ride the rail trail at Ohiopyle, or spend a long day on the wooden coasters at Knoebels.
Fall
The northern forests turn red and gold in October, hawks stream south past the lookouts at Hawk Mountain, and elk bugle in the fields around Benezette.
Winter
The conservatories at Longwood and Phipps stay warm and green all winter, and on clear, cold nights the sky over Cherry Springs is thick with stars.