Pennsylvania National Parks

Pennsylvania national parks allow visitors to enter the mind of literary geniuses, visit the home of a past president, or tour historic railroads. While enjoying the recreational opportunities of the state's scenic trails, rivers, and geologic "gaps", you should also take the time to pay respect at those sites dedicated to those who have lost their lives from acts of terrorism, war, and natural disaster.

Visit these Pennsylvania National Parks:

Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site: The Allegheny Portage Railroad was a great achievement in early travel. Charles Dickens, Jenny Linn, and Ulysses S. Grant traveled over the Allegheny Mountains. They braved a system that injured passengers on a weekly basis. A system of inclined planes and a nine hundred foot tunnel carved through solid rock by Welsh coalminers made this feat possible.

Allegheny Weather

Appalachian National Scenic Trail: The People's Path, and America's First National Scenic Trail   "The body of the Trail is provided by the lands it traverses, and its soul is in the living stewardship of the volunteers and workers of the Appalachian Trail community."

Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network: First thoughts of the Chesapeake Bay often bring up images of crabs and oysters. But, as the largest estuary in North America, the Chesapeake Bay has touched and influenced much of the American story - early settlement, commerce, the military, transportation, recreation and more.

Delaware National Scenic River: Middle Delaware National Scenic River is a 40-mile stretch of river entirely located within, and entirely administered by, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.

Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor: Come journey through five Pennsylvania counties bursting with heritage and brimming with outdoor adventure. You will find something for everyone. Follow a history trail marked with stories about hearty lumberjacks, coal miners, lock tenders, and railroaders. Explore quiet canal paths, challenging bike trails and the rippling waters of the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers.

Delaware Lehigh Weather

Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area: For 40 miles the Middle Delaware River passes between low forested mountains with barely a house in sight. Then the river cuts through the mountain ridge to form the famed "Water Gap." Exiting the park, the river will run 200 miles more to Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean at Wilmington, Delaware.

Deshler-Morris House: This building is the oldest presidential residence in existence in the United States. A refuge to President Washington during the yellow fever epidemic in 1793, the Deshler Morris House later served as a country retreat for the First Family in 1794.

Deschler Morris Weather

Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site: Edgar Poe has cast a long shadow: he has probably had a greater influence than any other American writer. Although Poe’s tales and poems range from masterful to ludicrous, Poe exerted his most significant influence as a man who understood the temper of his times, and foreshadowed so much of the future of literature.

Edgar Allan Poe Weather

Eisenhower National Historic Site: Eisenhower National Historic Site is the home and farm of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Located adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield, the farm served the President as a weekend retreat and a meeting place for world leaders. With its peaceful setting and view of South Mountain, it was a much needed respite from Washington and a backdrop for efforts to reduce Cold War tensions.

Eisenhower Weather

Flight 93 National Memorial: On September 11, 2001, the passengers and crew of Flight 93 courageously gave their lives thwarting a planned attack on our Nation's Capital. Flight 93 National Memorial will be a permanent memorial to the heroes on that plane.

Flight 93 Weather

Fort Necessity National Battlefield: The battle at Fort Necessity in the summer of 1754 was the opening action of the French and Indian War. This war was a clash of British, French and American Indian cultures. It ended with the removal of French power from North America. The stage was set for the American Revolution.

Fort Necessity Weather

Friendship Hill National Historic Site: Albert Gallatin is best remembered for his thirteen year tenure as Secretary of the Treasury during the Jefferson and Madison administrations. In that time he reduced the national debt, purchased the Louisiana Territory and funded the Lewis & Clark exploration. Gallatin's accomplishments and contributions are highlighted in his restored country estate, Friendship Hill.

Friendship Hill Weather

Gettysburg National Military Park: The Battle of Gettysburg was a turning point in the Civil War, the Union victory in the summer of 1863 that ended General Robert E. Lee's second and most ambitious invasion of the North. Often referred to as the "High Water Mark of the Confederacy", it was the war's bloodiest battle with 51,000 casualties. It also provided President Abraham Lincoln with the setting for his most famous address.

Gettysburg Weather

Gloria Dei Church National Historic Site: Gloria Dei (Old Swedes) Episcopal Church in South Philadelphia is the oldest church building in Pennsylvania, and among the oldest in the country. The attractive building, constructed of Flemish bond, and black header brick, was built between the years 1698 and 1700 for Swedish settlers.

Gloria Dei Weather

Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site: When open conflict erupted in 1775, England’s ministers regretted not having been more successful in their efforts to rein in the American ironmasters. They knew the iron industry was now going to be turned against the mother country.

Hopewell Furnace Weather

Independence National Historical Park: The Liberty Bell cracked long ago, but as an icon of freedom its voice has never been stilled. To Americans who demanded independence on this site, and to those who even now seek self-determination, it still declares "Proclaim Liberty throughout All the land unto All the Inhabitants Thereof." Its crack is a reminder that liberty is imperfect, hopefully evolving to include those who have been denied full participation in a democratic society.

Independence Weather

Johnstown Flood National Memorial: There was no larger news story in the latter nineteenth century after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The story of the Johnstown Flood has everything to interest the modern mind: a wealthy resort, an intense storm, an unfortunate failure of a dam, the destruction of a working class city, and an inspiring relief effort.

Johnstown Flood Weather

Lackawanna Heritage Valley: The Lackawanna Heritage Valley works with partners to develop places, programs, and museums all focused on celebrating our pivotal role in America's Industrial Revolution. People visit today to see the real thing: authentic rail yards, a deep coal mine, original blast furnaces, great architecture, beautiful landscapes, unique ethnic churches, and the birthplace of organized labor.

Lackawanna Weather

Lower Delaware National Wild and Scenic River: The largest free-flowing river in the eastern United States, the Delaware River through forests, farmlands, and villages, and it also links some of the most densely populated regions in America. In 2000, the National Wild and Scenic River System incorporated key segments of the lower Delaware River to form this unit of the National Park System.

North Country National Scenic Trail: Our northern tier of States offers some of the most outstanding scenic beauty to be found anywhere in America. The "North Country" is a land of diversity whose beauty is accentuated by its distinctly changing seasons. As you travel the North Country, the hills and valleys, lakes and streams, show how the glaciers molded the landscape. Historic sites along the way tell the story of how America was settled and grew as a nation.

North Country Ratings

Oil Region National Heritage Area: Oil Region National Heritage Area in northwestern Pennsylvania tells of the world's first successful commercial oil well and a legacy of petroleum that continues to shape industry, society, and politics. The Oil Region includes oil artifacts, scenic communities, farmlands and woodlands, and industrial landscapes, and offers visitors heritage attractions and four seasons of outdoor recreation.

Oil Region Weather

Path of Progress National Heritage Tour Route: The Path of Progress is a 500 mile driving route which winds through the hills and valleys of nine scenic southwestern Pennsylvania counties linking key historical sites and diverse points of interest. A distinct portrait of the combined industrial, cultural, and economic heritage of the area is revealed by traveling all or portions of the route.

Path of Progress Weather

Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail: Linking the Potomac and upper Ohio river basins from Chesapeake Bay and Potomac tidewater to the Allegheny Highlands, this national scenic trail network lets you retrace – by foot, bicycle, horse, or boat – the corridor George Washington explored as essential to U.S. national development.

Rivers Of Steel National Heritage Area: The Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area reveals how one region, in a sustained and thunderous blast of innovation, ambition and fire, forever changed America and its place in the world. It is the story of the industrialists and the workers who pushed an infant industry to it ultimate limits and in doing so pushed the world into the Age of Steel.

Rivers of Steel Weather

Schuylkill River Valley National Heritage Area: The Schuylkill River Heritage Area is the birthplace of the movements that shaped the nation, fueled its growth, and reclaimed its future. It was along the banks of this river and its tributaries that the American, Industrial, and Environmental Revolutions were born. Explore the stories, visit the places, and experience the region's vitality by visiting the Schuylkill River Heritage Area.

Schuylkill Weather

Steamtown National Historic Site: Feel the heat from the firebox. Hear the bell and whistle. Smell the hot steam and oil. Feel the ground vibrate under your feet. See the one ton drive rods turn the wheels. Hear the chuff-chuff-chuff of the smokestack. Today, you can relive the era of steam as the engines come back to life. The cinders, grease, oil, steam, people and stories of railroading have returned.

Steamtown Weather

Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial: Born of impoverished landed gentry in the eastern Polish province of Polesie on February 4, 1746, Thaddeus Koscuiszko (KOS-CHOOS-KO) became one of the 18th century’s greatest champions of American and Polish freedom.

Thaddeus Kosciuszko Weather

Upper Delaware Scenic & Recreational River: As a part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System of the US National Parks, Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River stretches 73.4 miles along the New York-Pennsylvania border. The longest and one of the cleanest free-flowing (undammed) rivers in the eastern United States, the Upper Delaware features riffles and Class I and II rapids interspersed with pools and eddies.

Upper Delaware Ratings

Valley Forge National Historical Park: Ask someone to think of Valley Forge and they will nearly always envision an anonymous group of soldiers struggling against winter’s fury and clothed in nothing but rags. Certainly hardship did occur at Valley Forge, but the encampment experience could be characterized as "suffering as usual," for privation was the Continental soldier’s constant companion.

Valley Forge Weather     Valley Forge Ratings