Ideas for a day out
Pennsylvania's old-time amusement parks, with wooden roller coasters, antique carousels and shady picnic groves.
Pennsylvania has kept a remarkable number of its old amusement parks. Many began a century or more ago as picnic groves at the end of a trolley or railroad line, and they still have the shade trees, the pavilions and the hand-carved carousels to prove it, along with some of the oldest wooden roller coasters still running anywhere. Most are family places rather than vast resorts, where grandparents can ride the same coaster they rode as children and a whole day can be built around a picnic. The newer thrill rides are here too, but the old ones are the reason to come. All of these parks are seasonal, so check each one's calendar before you go.
1Amusement park · South Whitehall Township, Lehigh County
Allentown's big park began in the 1880s as a trout hatchery and summer resort and grew into a full amusement park with a water park beside it. Today it mixes tall steel coasters with rides that have been running for generations.
2Amusement park · East Lampeter Township, Lancaster County
Behind its castle front on Route 30 east of Lancaster, this park has been made for young children since 1963, with gentle rides sized for them. A good choice for a family with toddlers.
3Amusement park · Derry Township, Dauphin County
Milton Hershey opened a park for his workers and their families in 1907, and it has grown into a big modern park. Old favorites, like the Comet, a wooden coaster from 1946, and an antique carousel, share the grounds with towering modern rides.
4Amusement park · Ralpho Township, Northumberland County
Run by the Knoebel family since it opened in 1926, this park in a wooded hollow near Elysburg is loved for its wooden coasters, among them the Phoenix, built in Texas in 1947 and moved here in 1985, and for its 1913 Grand Carousel, where riders still reach for the brass ring. There is a campground, and picnic pavilions under the trees.
5Amusement park · Antis Township, Blair County
A family park in Tipton, near Altoona, owned by the DelGrosso family since 1946, with a small water park, classic rides and the family's well-known Italian cooking.
6Amusement park · Ligonier Township, Westmoreland County
Opened in 1878 as a picnic grove on a railroad, Idlewild is generally counted the oldest amusement park in Pennsylvania, spread through shady woods along Loyalhanna Creek. It is especially good for younger children, with Story Book Forest, a carousel and a water park.
7Amusement park · West Mifflin, Allegheny County
Pittsburgh's own park opened as a trolley park above the Monongahela in 1898 and is a National Historic Landmark. Its classic wooden coasters, the Jack Rabbit from 1920, the Racer and the Thunderbolt, still run beside newer steel thrill rides.
8Amusement park · Millcreek Township, Erie County
Near the entrance to Presque Isle, Waldameer has been an amusement park since 1896. Its wooden coaster, the Ravine Flyer II, opened in 2008 and crosses the road outside on a bridge.
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