10 Pennsylvania Stops That Will Make You Reroute Your Next Road Trip

That state hides an odd, wonderful mix of stainless steel diners, misty waterfalls, forgotten highways swallowed by trees, and museums that make your jaw drop. I have driven across Pennsylvania more times than I can count, and every single trip I find something new that makes me pull off the highway and stay longer than planned.

What I love most is how quickly the scenery flips, from mountain gorges in the west to Victorian rooftops tucked into eastern valleys. This route stretches from a small-town breakfast counter near a major east-west highway all the way to a city collection of medical curiosities, with plenty of strange and beautiful detours in between.

Each stop tells you something honest about the place, whether it is coal country grit or Pennsylvania Dutch cooking served by the yard. I have watched a diner waitress remember a customer’s order from twenty years ago and stood in a room full of glass jars holding pieces of history.

People who have been treating this state as a place to drive through will find that these ten spots change their mind and probably their map.

1. Summit Diner, A Stainless Steel Breakfast Worth Waking Up For

Somerset mornings feel best when they start at a long counter with stools, coffee in a thick mug, and the sound of orders being called across the room. My first bite of sausage gravy here convinced me to skip every chain restaurant along the highway for the rest of the trip.

The stainless steel exterior looks small from the parking lot, but inside there is more space than you expect. Terrazzo floors, mosaic tile, wooden beams, and wagon wheel lights give the whole room a warm 1960s glow.

Opened in 1960, it has been named one of the country’s best diners by Roadside Magazine and featured in the book Diners of Pennsylvania. All meat is cut and ground right on the premises, and the sausage still gets seasoned the same way it did decades ago.

Regulars talk about the homemade pies, the malted milkshakes, and the biscuits with gravy that arrive light and fluffy. Bring cash, because cards are not accepted, though an ATM sits inside.

Service moves fast even when the place fills up, which makes it ideal before a long driving day. On some Sundays, classic car cruises gather in the lot outside.

Address: 791 North Center Avenue, Somerset, PA 15501

2. Ohiopyle State Park, Waterfalls, Gorge Views and a Perfect Morning Trail

Cool river air hit me the second I stepped out of the car, and honestly that alone was worth the drive into the Laurel Highlands. Water noise follows you everywhere in this park.

Roughly 20,500 acres of rugged land spread out around the Youghiogheny River Gorge, and the whitewater below the falls puts on a constant show. More than 79 miles of hiking trails branch off in every direction, so a morning here can be as gentle or as sweaty as you want.

The 20-foot drop of Ohiopyle Falls draws the biggest crowds, but I would argue Cucumber Falls, tucked into a mossy grotto, is the one you photograph most. Meadow Run Natural Waterslides carve smooth chutes through the rock nearby.

For plant lovers, Ferncliff Peninsula protects 100 acres of unusual flora on a loop that feels older than the road you drove in on. Baughman Rock Overlook gives you the wide gorge view that makes the whole trip click.

Wear shoes with real grip, since wet stone shows up often. Start early and the trails stay quiet, with birdsong doing most of the talking.

Address: 124 Main Street, Ohiopyle, PA 15470

3. Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike, Highway Reclaimed by Forest

There is something wonderfully strange about walking down the middle of a four-lane highway and hearing absolutely no traffic. Weeds push up through the cracks, and the lane markings are still faintly visible under the moss.

Thirteen miles of the original Pennsylvania Turnpike sit abandoned out here, closed off since 1968 when a bypass sent traffic elsewhere. Two long tunnels, Sideling Hill and Rays Hill, remain in place, dark and dripping and covered in layers of graffiti.

When this road opened in 1940 it was called America’s First Superhighway, and those narrow tunnels eventually turned into serious bottlenecks. Today the pavement belongs to hikers and cyclists who like their scenery a little eerie.

Bring a strong flashlight or headlamp, because the tunnel interiors get genuinely pitch black in the middle. A bike makes the distance far more manageable, and the flat grade means almost no climbing.

Filmmakers noticed the atmosphere too, using the stretch for major scenes in the movie adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Sound behaves oddly inside the tunnels, turning footsteps into long echoes.

Midday works best here, when a little light still reaches the tunnel mouths and the whole place feels like a time capsule you can walk through.

4. Jim Thorpe, Victorian Streets Wedged Into a Mountain Valley

Rolling into this town, I actually slowed the car down just to look up at the hillsides pressing in on both sides of the street. Rooftops, steeples, and stone facades stack up the slope like a European postcard.

People call it the Switzerland of America, and also the Gateway to the Poconos, which tells you a lot about the scenery. Narrow sidewalks curve past grand old buildings, small shops, and railroad-era architecture that has been kept in remarkable shape.

Coal money built this place back when it went by the name Mauch Chunk, and that prosperity shows in the detailed brickwork and ornate trim. The town later took a new name honoring Jim Thorpe, the legendary Native American athlete.

An afternoon here works best with no agenda at all. I wandered, doubled back, poked into shops, and kept stopping to stare at the ridgeline above the chimneys.

Comfortable shoes matter more than you would think, since a few streets climb at a serious angle. Fall turns the surrounding forest into a wall of color that reflects in the shop windows.

Of all the towns on this route, it might be the easiest one to fall for by accident.

5. Centralia, The Ghost Town With Fire Under Its Feet

Empty street grids with no houses attached to them are unsettling in a way photos never quite capture. Sidewalks lead to nothing but grass, and the silence is almost complete.

An underground coal-seam fire has been burning beneath this town continuously since at least May 1962. It started with a landfill burn that crept into the maze of abandoned mines below the surface.

Proof of the fire still shows up as steam drifting from cracks in the ground, and in winter the warm earth melts snow in odd patches. Most residents were relocated decades ago, and the majority of buildings were demolished afterward.

Experts believe the blaze could keep burning for hundreds of years, releasing heat and toxic gases along the way. Because of that, staying on open public roads and away from fissures and posted areas is simply common sense.

What struck me most was not spookiness but sadness. A whole community’s street layout is still readable in the pavement, minus the community.

It makes a short stop, maybe half an hour, yet it lingers in your head far longer than that. Coal country history feels very real here, and very physical.

6. Old Jail Museum, Thick Stone Walls and a Handprint Nobody Can Explain

Cold air seeps out of stone this thick, and I felt the temperature drop the moment I moved past the entrance. The hallways are narrow, the doors are heavy, and the whole building holds its history close.

Built between 1869 and 1870, the structure served as Carbon County’s prison all the way until 1995. Inside there are 27 cells plus basement dungeon cells that were used for solitary confinement.

Much of the story here connects to the Molly Maguires, a secret society of Irish coal miners who pushed back against brutal working conditions in the 1870s. Seven accused members were executed at this site, and gallows have been recreated within the cell block.

Cell 17 gets the most attention. A handprint on the wall has proven impossible to remove, and it is said to have been left by Alexander Campbell as he declared his innocence.

One detail I did not expect: the warden’s family actually lived inside the jail, and his wife cooked in the same kitchen for both her household and the prisoners.

Late afternoon light through barred windows makes the tour hit even harder. Bring a jacket, because those basement rooms stay chilly year round.

Address: 128 West Broadway, Jim Thorpe, PA 18229

7. Primanti Bros, The Sandwich That Hides Its French Fries Inside

My first reaction to this sandwich was pure confusion, followed immediately by respect. The fries are inside the bread, and once you try it that way, the logic makes perfect sense.

Pittsburgh’s Strip District location opened back in 1933, and the counter has been packed with an odd mix of people ever since. Construction workers, students, families, and travelers all end up elbow to elbow.

The Almost Famous sandwiches stack grilled meat, melted cheese, a tangy oil and vinegar coleslaw, sliced tomatoes, and fresh-cut french fries between two thick slabs of Italian bread. That design came from a practical need, giving Depression-era truck drivers a full meal they could hold in one hand without a plate.

Nothing about the setting is fancy, and that is exactly the appeal. Paper wrapping, quick service, and a menu that does not overthink itself.

Order carefully, because the portion is genuinely substantial after a long day of driving. I would skip a heavy lunch beforehand if you want to finish the whole thing.

As dinner stops go, it feels like the most honest introduction to Steel City eating you can get in twenty minutes.

Address: 46 18th Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222

8. Shady Maple Smorgasbord, Two Hundred Feet of Pennsylvania Dutch Cooking

Two hundred feet of buffet is difficult to picture until you are standing at one end of it with an empty plate and a strategy problem. I walked the whole line once before taking anything, which I recommend.

Billed as the largest all-you-can-eat restaurant in the United States, the dining hall seats up to 1,200 guests at a time. The full complex, including a big gift shop, stretches beyond 110,000 square feet and draws close to 1.5 million visitors a year.

Its beginnings were far humbler, starting as a roadside farm stand in the late 1960s. That grew into a full supermarket, and by 1985 the smorgasbord took shape.

Recent updates in 2025 and 2026 refreshed the dining hall and buffet layout without changing what people come for. Homestyle Pennsylvania Dutch classics anchor the offerings, with rotating weekly specials keeping things interesting.

Lancaster County farmland surrounds the drive in, all silos and tidy fields, which sets the mood nicely. The whole place has that enormous, welcoming grandma’s house energy people always mention.

Go hungry, go early, and accept that the rest of your afternoon will move slowly.

Address: 129 Toddy Drive, East Earl, PA 17519

9. Ricketts Glen, Twenty-Two Waterfalls on One Unforgettable Loop

Mist on my face before I even saw the first drop told me this hike was going to be different. Water is everywhere here, tumbling through narrow rocky clefts one after another.

The park spreads across more than 13,000 acres in three counties, and its Glens Natural Area carries National Natural Landmark status. The Falls Trail System threads past 22 named waterfalls, which sounds exaggerated until you start counting them off.

Ganoga Falls is the tallest at a 94-foot plunge, and it stops most hikers in their tracks. Old-growth timber shades the route, with some trees passing 500 years of age.

The full loop runs 7.2 miles and does not go easy on you. Steep stone steps, constant mist, and slick rock mean careful footing matters far more than speed.

If that sounds like a lot, a shorter 3.2-mile loop still reaches several of the best cascades. I would pack extra socks either way, since damp feet are pretty much guaranteed.

Afternoon light filtering through the canopy turns the spray almost silver. Of every hike on this route, this is the one I keep replaying in my head.

Address: 695 PA-118, Benton, PA 17814

10. Mütter Museum, Medical History Displayed in Antique Glass Cases

Dark wood cabinets, brass fittings, and glass jars lined up in rows create a hush that made me lower my voice without thinking. Philadelphia keeps some unusual treasures, and this is the most unforgettable one.

Part of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the museum was founded in 1858 by Dr. Thomas Dent Mütter. Anatomical and pathological specimens, detailed wax models, and antique medical instruments fill a preserved 19th-century cabinet museum setting.

Originally it existed to train medical professionals, and now it helps the public understand the human body along with how diagnosis and treatment evolved. That educational thread runs through every case.

Standout exhibits include the Soap Lady, a body preserved in a soap-like substance, and the Hyrtl Skull Collection of 139 skulls gathered to disprove phrenology. There is also a conjoined twin skeleton, preserved organs, and slides of Albert Einstein’s brain.

Some displays are undeniably macabre, though the presentation stays respectful and deeply informative. Squeamish visitors should know that going in.

Finishing a Pennsylvania road trip here feels right, since the whole route has been about seeing things you cannot see anywhere else.

Address: 19 South 22nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103