Guide · Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, worth the detour.
31 hand-picked stops that never make the highway signs — the hidden gems, offbeat landmarks, and overlooked museums locals send you to, each with the story behind it and why it’s worth leaving the interstate.
Roadside Americana
6 stops in Pennsylvania.
America's oldest brewery (founded 1829), offering free tours of the hillside brewery including the hand-dug fermentation caves.
Gravity HillBedford County's famous optical-illusion road where cars appear to roll uphill; free, signed by the county tourism bureau.
Hershey's Chocolate WorldFree-entry chocolate attraction with the ride-through factory tour and Create-Your-Own-Candy-Bar line.
Millersburg FerryAmerica's last all-wooden double-sternwheel paddle ferry, crossing the Susquehanna since 1817; runs seasonally May-October.
New Hope & Ivyland RailroadTourist railroad running since 1966 from the 1891 'witch's hat' station; steam and vintage diesel excursions through Bucks County countryside.
Peddler's Village60+ locally owned shops in an 18th-century-style village with dining and the Giggleberry Fair family playground.
Outdoors
4 stops in Pennsylvania.
Native-plant preserve in the Pidcock Creek valley with 700+ species and 4.5 miles of trails.
Horseshoe Curve National Historic Landmark2,375-foot railroad curve built in 1854, with a trackside overlook where mainline trains pass at eye level; operated by the Railroaders Memorial Museum.
Thousand StepsHistoric 1,000+ step stone staircase up Jacks Mountain, part of the Standing Stone Trail; built by ganister quarry workers in 1936, with a steep half-mile climb to panoramic Juniata valley views.
Tunkhannock Viaduct (Nicholson Bridge)2,375-foot concrete rail viaduct (1915) towering 240 feet over the valley; free roadside overlook.
Culture
17 stops in Pennsylvania.
Railroad history museum in the restored 1882 Master Mechanics Building, telling the story of Altoona as 'Railroad City' across three floors.
Electric City Trolley MuseumVintage trolley rides through the Crown Avenue tunnel, departing from the Steamtown rail yard.
Fort Bedford MuseumFrench & Indian War fort museum at the original fort footprint on the Juniata.
Fort LigonierReconstructed 18th-century British fort with museum galleries on French & Indian War history and living-history interpreters.
Fred Rogers Center at Saint Vincent CollegeExhibit on Saint Vincent College's campus, which awarded Fred Rogers an honorary degree and hosts his archive, covering the Latrobe native's life and children's television legacy.
Grey Towers National Historic SiteGifford Pinchot's chateau estate, run by the US Forest Service; grounds open daily, house tours seasonal.
McCoy House (Mifflin County Historical Society)1841 Federal-style home on the National Register, birthplace of Gen. Frank Ross McCoy, now a Mifflin County Historical Society museum of Juniata Valley history.
National Civil War MuseumOne of the largest museums dedicated solely to the Civil War, in association with the Smithsonian; hilltop site at One Lincoln Circle.
Ned Smith Center for Nature and ArtGallery and 500+ acre nature preserve celebrating wildlife artist Ned Smith, with trails along Wiconisco Creek.
Old Bedford Village40+ relocated 18th-19th-century buildings run as a living-history village with working trades.
Sayre Historical Society MuseumLehigh Valley Railroad depot museum with an outsized collection for a small town.
State Museum of PennsylvaniaFour floors beside the Capitol, from dinosaurs to a Civil War gallery; pay-what-you-wish summers.
Steamtown National Historic SiteWorking steam-railroad yard and roundhouse in downtown Scranton; major NPS unit.
The Hershey StoryMilton Hershey's rags-to-chocolate story told on Chocolate Avenue, with hands-on chocolate lab classes.
U.S. Army Heritage and Education CenterFree Army history campus with the mile-long outdoor Heritage Trail: WWI trench, Yorktown redoubt, Huey on the lawn.
Washington Crossing Historic ParkSite of Washington's 1776 Christmas-night Delaware crossing; 500+ acres with a colonial village, gardens, and visitor center.
Zane Grey Museum (Upper Delaware)Western novelist Zane Grey's riverside home (1905-1918) at 135 Scenic Drive, run by NPS in the Upper Delaware corridor.
Food
4 stops in Pennsylvania.
The nation's oldest continuously operated market house (1860) — currently trading from a tent while the fire-damaged brick hall is rebuilt.
Gardners Candies (original store)Flagship store of the Tyrone candy maker founded in 1897, with an on-site candy museum and ice cream parlor.
Jean Bonnet Tavern1762 stone tavern at the Forbes Road junction, still serving as restaurant and inn; Whiskey Rebellion history.
Landmark Tavern at Logan InnTavern restaurant inside the Logan Inn, established 1727 - one of America's longest continuously operating inns, right on New Hope's Main Street.
Plan the Pennsylvania trip
Hidden gems, scenic drives, hikes — all in one Pennsylvania guide.
See everything worth the detour in Pennsylvania, then let Roamward build the trip around it. Know a Pennsylvania spot we’re missing? Tell us — we’re building this with the people who actually drive it.