Dauphin County 16
16 places to explore in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania — part of the Dutch Country Roads region.
Public Gardens 1
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Hershey Gardens
Milton Hershey's 1937 rose garden has grown into a hilltop botanical garden with seasonal displays, a children's garden and a glassed-in atrium aflutter with tropical butterflies.
Museums 7
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State Museum of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania's story from dinosaurs to the industrial age, told beside the Capitol, with Peter Rothermel's enormous painting of Pickett's Charge and a planetarium.
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AACA Museum
Vintage cars from the horseless-carriage era to the muscle-car years fill the Antique Automobile Club of America's museum, which also holds a gallery of rare Tucker sedans and a museum of buses.
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Hershey's Chocolate World
A whimsical ride through a simulated chocolate factory, make-your-own candy bar sessions, tastings and an enormous candy shop make the chocolate maker's visitor center a sweet family stop.
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National Civil War Museum
Set in Reservoir Park, this museum tells the whole story of the Civil War, from its causes to its aftermath, through artifacts, letters and dioramas that give both Union and Confederate perspectives.
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The Hershey Story
Hands-on exhibits trace Milton Hershey's life and the company town he built, and a chocolate lab lets visitors make their own treats and taste chocolates from around the world.
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Susquehanna Art Museum
Harrisburg's art museum, with changing exhibitions of regional and contemporary art in Midtown, a few blocks from the river.
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Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts
Hands-on science galleries, a giant-screen cinema and a performing-arts theater under one roof in downtown Harrisburg.
Historic Sites 2
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Fort Hunter Mansion and Park
A Federal-style stone mansion on the site of a French and Indian War fort, set in riverside parkland along the Susquehanna with traces of the Pennsylvania Canal and a rebuilt covered bridge.
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Pennsylvania State Capitol
A grand 1906 capitol under a dome modeled on St. Peter's in Rome, its interior rich with Moravian tile floors, murals, stained glass and marble, shown on guided tours.
Public Parks 3
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Boyd Big Tree Preserve Conservation Area
Outsized trees of many species shade the slopes of Blue Mountain here, alive with warblers in spring, while a hillside meadow fills with butterfly weed and butterflies in midsummer.
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Joseph E. Ibberson Conservation Area
Tall hardwoods blanket Peters Mountain here, and quiet trails wind up through warbler-filled woods to join the Appalachian Trail along the crest.
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Fort Hunter Mansion and Park
A Federal-style stone mansion on the site of a French and Indian War fort, set in riverside parkland along the Susquehanna with traces of the Pennsylvania Canal and a rebuilt covered bridge.
Theme Parks 1
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Hersheypark
Chocolate Town's big amusement park, with more than a dozen roller coasters, a water park, a vintage carousel among the classic rides, and the ZooAmerica wildlife park next door.
Zoos & Aquariums 2
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Lake Tobias Wildlife Park
Open-air safari buses carry visitors through fields where bison, elk and deer wander right up to the vehicle, plus walk-through animal exhibits and a petting zoo.
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ZooAmerica
An 11-acre zoo devoted to North American wildlife, from black bears and gray wolves to river otters, with animals grouped by region, right next to Hersheypark.
Show Caves 1
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Indian Echo Caverns
Guided walks lead through limestone chambers and past an underground lake in a cave beside Swatara Creek, where the hermit William Wilson lived alone for nearly 20 years in the early 1800s.