Pennsylvania residents

[rgrugg]

Have mostly just passed through on the way to someplace else. We've seen Valley Forge, Philadelphia, Gettysburg, and a couple of other similar types of places. Planning on June and want to see some lesser known places. I like making landscape photos, like trains. Steamtown is on the agenda. Open to any ideas you may have. Taking our Egg Camper. Thanks

[Greg H]

You could go to Punxsutawney and see that stupid Groundhog.

[cpaharley2008]

Bob,
Altoona is the train capital and Pa route #6 goes east and west and thru the "Grand Canyon" of Pa. some great scenery and camping. Star gazing you have Cherry Hills SP,
Kinzua RR Bridge and Erie, Pa is a neat place, Presque Isle SP is fabulous in Erie.

[Craig D. Thompson]

Bob & Grace,

I second the recommendation for the Grand Canyon of PA, Wellsboro. I have stayed in Hills Creek State Park near the canyon and recall it was very nice. The scenery is impressive. (Maybe not as grand as the canyon out west in, now where is it, hmmm, Arizona perhaps, but still quite grand.) Some nice hiking trails. The wife and I were just not thinking clearly and hiked from the top to the bottom, forgetting that the temperature and humidity increased significantly toward the bottom. Didn't take enough water and almost got into a serious problem. But it is beautiful and as with just about anywhere you go, there is much history to learn.

Sunbury is where the east and west branches of the Susquehanna River meet. I have not camped there but there is some nice scenery including a very beautiful scenic lookout at Shikellamy State Park I believe it was.

Toward north eastern PA is Hickory Run State Park. Nice hiking trails and has a boulder field left from the last ice age. Bald eagles have recently moved back into that park. Rickets Glen has a very fun, semi-challenging hike along a stream with many waterfalls.

If you get back to the south central region, Pine Grove Furnace State Park was an unexpected delight for my wife and I. Quite small but very nice largish camping sites. (Many of the PA State Parks have very small closely packed together camp sites. Don't know why when there is plenty of open land.) Pine Grove's claim to fame is that it is at the half way point on the Appalachian Trail. There is an ice cream store where the tradition is for hikers hiking the entire trail to buy a 1/2 gallon of ice cream. If eaten in one sitting they receive a special stamped wooden ice cream scoop. Considered quite a trophy by the hikers. More importantly there is a fairly new Appalachian Trail Museum. Still small but I learned a lot about the history of the trail. Very well worth a visit.

Strasburg has a very nice train museum. Not great for scenery but a steam train runs short rides in the farm country.

Sorry for rambling on. I intended this to be a short reply but I have had many very enjoyable trips in PA. I am sure there are a few more I could recommend but this is a good start.

Craig T.

[Jon Vermilye]

If you enjoy landscape photography, I also suggest spending some time at Ricketts Glen State Park. I prefer the fall, but all seasons have merit:

A link to my last trip (and further links to other trips to the Glen) start Here.

And a sample:

[Frederick L. Simson]

Originally Posted by rgrugg

I like making landscape photos, like trains. Steamtown is on the agenda. Open to any ideas you may have.

Seeing Fallingwater in person is still on my bucket list. I am a huge fan of Frank Lloyd Wright.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Frederick L. Simson

Seeing Fallingwater in person is still on my bucket list. I am a huge fan of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Me too Frederick! We'll have to compare notes at the Oregon Gathering. (You know we have one of his houses here in Oregon.. Silverton.. at the Oregon Gardens. You can stop and see it when you come this way.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled topic...

[jen b]

For trains, the freight line between Altoona and Johnstown has a number of lovely photography spots.

Hardcore train nerds love West Brownsville, which is one of the few places left in the US where you can still see street running (in which the train shares a regular surface street).



I second the suggestion for Fallingwater, the PA Grand Canyon, and Route 6 in the northern tier.

If you do head into the northeast corner of PA, don't miss the Linesville Spillway in Pymatuning State Park, "where the ducks walk on the fish!" There is an overabundance of ravenous carp at the spillway, and it's a major tourist attraction and one of the funniest things in PA. Take stale bagels to feed them, because bread slices disintegrate too quickly for optimum entertainment value. Oh, and the state park is very pleasant, too.



Pennsylvania has an elk herd with an interesting history - there are a couple of places to see them between St Marys and Ridgway, and that's a super nice area of the state.

[CindyL]

There is a squeaky clean campground in Altoona where we have stayed twice. The title is something about railroads and orchards, I believe (Kevin?) I do genealogy, and one branch of my family were around there. We enjoyed Fort Bedford, the Rev. War era town in Bedford and a rebuilt Rev. War fort, Fort Roberdeau. It is hard to find but the drive is very pretty and worth the effort. We played golf at Standing Stone Golf Course (after hiking through my ancestor's chigger-infested cemetery, I owed one to Kevin, although the chiggers ignored him. Besides, my ancestor lived on Standing Stone Creek, so we went up the road and found that site too.).

Huntingdon is pretty but the shopping was disappointing. I think that the area is depressed. They told us that the nearby lake is great for camping and canoeing.

We also stayed at a KOA last summer just south of Philadelphia: Philadelphia / West Chester KOA | Camping in Pennsylvania | KOA Campgrounds. It was really nice. It gave us access to tour sites where another ancestor fought in the Rev. We went to see Paoli (Anyone heard of it? I was a history major and never heard of it until I found one of my ancestors was wounded there. It should be better known. It was like "Remember the Alamo."). Brandywine was beyond what we expected to find in a local site, really nice. The only thing was that some places along the battle route, including where my ancestor was stationed, were closed during the week. Valley Forge was great. We took our folding bikes and when we got pooped riding, we piled them on the bus and road it. They did say that the busses were being discontinued due to budget.

Beautiful state! We will go back.

CindyL

[cpaharley2008]

Both my parents are from Brownvsille, my gpop worked on the locks and my greatuncle in the mines.
ps, York also has some street running. I think Pennsylvania has more train tracks in operation than any other state!!

[john warren]

cool, some friends of our moved to brownsville and we have visited them there, nice place.

i can not believe that no one has mentioned hershey?????
i had to take my wife there for some sort of female religious pilgramage.
actualy it is a very cool place with lots of history. check out the orphans school,,,, something people don;t recall about the hershey family