THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Ride a rail trail. Lancaster city is becoming more and more bikefriendly, but nothing beats a ride on one of the counties many rail trails. The area’s rich ties to the railroad industry might be history, but the old trails are still being put to good use. Some trails to check out include the Warwick to Ephrata Rail Trail, Northwest Lancaster County River Trail between Columbia and Bainbridge, the Enola Low Grade Trail from Turkey Hill to the Chester County line, and Conewago Recreational Trail from Elizabethtown to the Lebanon County line.
Take a hike around a 100-acre lake, go birding, explore the diverse woods, play disc golf, cool off on the splash pad or check out the night sky at a state-of-theart observatory, all on a visit to Muddy Run Recreation Park near Holtwood.
Family ownedand operated for 90 years,KreiderFarmsis afourth-generationfarm that is dedicatedtolocal agriculture andlandpreservationpractices.
See our farm in actionfor yourself!Experience the sights, smells and sounds of a real dairyfarm on theKreider Farms Farm Tour,where funmeets farming in an unforgettable adventure!
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In an area rich with historical landmarks, some of the oldest and most significant artifacts involve a little more effort to experience. Adventure seekers can check out — with the aid of a reliable watercraft, and perhaps a knowledgeable guide — ancient Native American petroglyphs located on rocks in the middle of the Susquehanna River near Safe Harbor. The symbols are thought to have been carved into the stones by Shenks Ferry Native Americans sometime between 500-1,000 years ago. Scholars have declared these carvings to be the best examples of Native American rock art in North America. The waters in the area can be a bit tricky to navigate, so guided paddling tours are a good idea.
Paddle down the scenic Conestoga River or Susquehanna River in a canoe or kayak. The Class I Conestoga River runs for 60 miles and empties into the Susquehanna, the longest river on the East Coast and one of the oldest rivers in the world. If you need a little help, kayakLanCo can provide the gear and the route for a self-guided adventure.
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Grab a tube at Sickman’s Mill and take a relaxing 1.5-hour, 2-mile float down the Pequea Creek, where you’ll pass the remains of an old magnetic ore mine and maybe catch a glimpse of an eagle, hawk, heron or deer.
Join the Lancaster County Bird Club and help to observe birds in the area’s many diverse habitats and preserve native bird life.
Take a quick break for a scenic walk along the Kiwanis Loop on Mill Creek, a 1.5-mile loop trail in Lancaster County Central Park. Considered an easy route, the trail is relatively flat as it meanders along Mill Creek through woods and open fields.
Visit the Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area, a favorite migration stop for snow geese and tundra swans on their way to the summer arctic breeding grounds. As many as 200,000 snow geese and thousands of tundra swans have visited the spot each year, typically in February and March.
Stop and smell the flowers at Shenks Ferry Wildflower Preserve, along the eastern bank of the Susquehanna River in Conestoga. The 84-acre preserve has over 70 wildflower species and 50 species of birds, along with fox, deer and eastern box turtles. A downloadable brochure at lancasterconservancy. org can help you identify the most common wildflowers you’ll find at the preserve. Wildflower fans can also visit the 4-acre Wildflower Lookout at Pleasant Paradise Farm in Ronks. For the price of admission, you can stroll through a field of blooms, relax on a quiet bench or bring a picnic lunch. Field rentals are also available for private photo shoots.
Experien ce th e Farm
Noah and Mary Kreider established Kreider Farms in 1935, on the Manheim homestead that had been in Mary’s family since the 1700s
What started with 102 acres of land, a dozen dairy cows and 200 chickens is now a fourthgeneration, 3,000-acre diverse family farming business and the only full-scale egg and dairy farm in the United States.
Kreider Farms celebrates its 90th anniversary this year, and you can get a peek at how it all works when you take a Kreider Farms Farm Tour.
From standard and cage-free egg varieties to ice cream to milk products and fruit drinks, today’s Kreider Farms supplies retail and wholesale customers throughout the northeastern U.S. The Kreider Farms Farm Tour gives visitors a chance to explore the inner workings of a real dairy farm and to see how their favorite farm-fresh milk and ice cream is produced.
Start things off with an introductory video at the Kreider Farms Welcome Center, then hop aboard a bus to tour this true farm-to-fork operation
Highlights of the 90-minute tour include the bunker silos or Cow Pantry, the main barn or Cow Palace, the Perfume Factory, where solid manure is recycled
into to fluffy cow bedding, and the Moo Lagoon, where liquid manure is converted to bioavailable fertilizer. If you’re lucky, you’ll see a calf being born on the drive through the Moo-ternity Barn. You’ll also get an up-close look at the Milking Cow-rousel, where the farm milks its 1,700-cow dairy herd, producing over 12,000 gallons of milk each day.
Afterward, get your own sample of Kreider Farms chocolate milk for a boost of energy before climbing the 100-foot Silo Observation Tower, where you’ll have a 360-degree bird’s-eye view of the Kreider farm as well as the surrounding Lancaster County farmland.
The tour concludes with a drive past the farm’s newest addition, Kreider Valley Ranch, home to a herd of longhorn cattle
Tours are offered with advanced reservations. For reservations call 717-6655039, email farmtour@kreiderfarms.com or book online at www.kreiderfarms. com/farm-tour We hope to see you soon!
EAT AND DRINK
Work up an appetite, then sink your teeth into a giant cheesesteak from Dottie’s Snack Bar, a popular spot in Quarryville since the 1960s that’s now run by the grandchildren of founder Dottie Tomlinson. Leave room for some ice cream.
Any serious discussion of the best chicken barbecue in Lancaster County has to include Spooky Nook Produce & Greenhouse in East Hempfield Township. Every Saturday from April through October, the smell of marinating chicken wafts down the lane of the Stoltzfus family’s 66-acre farm at Landisville and Spooky Nook roads. The produce stand and greenhouse is open daily, Monday through Saturday, and sells what the family makes and grows: seasonal fruits including melons, berries and peaches; seasonal vegetables; homemade beverages including root beer, mint tea and lemonade; garden and landscaping plants, as well as flowers and planters; an array of birdhouses; baked goods on Fridays and Saturdays; and occasionally ice cream.
Stuff your face with Pennsylvania Dutch cooking at an all-you-caneat buffet. Lancaster County has two of the best in the country, according to the 2024 USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. Shady Maple Smorgasbord’s 200-foot buffet in East Earl was named the top buffet restaurant in the country, while Miller’s Smorgasbord in Ronks earned the No. 3 spot. Visit Shady Maple on your birthday and eat for free. Hint: Wear an elastic waistband.
Visit the nation’s first pretzel bakery. In 1861, Julius Sturgis purchased the 18-century stone building on East Main Street in Lititz (and presumably some dough). Today, in that same building, people are still twisting dough into that familiar shape. The Sturgis Pretzel House is a delicious piece of history where you can tour the building and roll your own pretzel. Or you can purchase pretzels right out of the oven at Lancaster’s Hammond Pretzel Bakery, the oldest continuously family-operated handmade pretzel bakery in America.
Raise a glass as you tour Lancaster County discovering over 40 wineries, breweries, distilleries and vineyards on the Craft & Cork Trail. Sample wine from Nissley Vineyards in Bainbridge to Britain Hill Venue & Vineyard in Little Britain Township, craft beer from Bespoke Brewing in Strasburg to Moo-Duck in Elizabethtown, spirits from Thistle Finch Distillery in Lancaster to Stoll & Wolfe in Lititz, and much more. There are free prizes, too.
Take your sweetheart to dinner at The Belvedere Inn in Lancaster city, named one of the country’s Top 100 Romantic Restaurants of 2025 by the restaurant reservation website OpenTable.
If java’s more your thing, check out some or all of the more than 20 quaint and cozy stops on Discover Lancaster’s Coffee Trail
Pick Your Own Adventure in th e Lebanon Valle y
Skip the long road trip and the chorus of “are we there yet?”: your summer vacation awaits right here in the Lebanon Valley! Just miles from Lancaster, the Lebanon Valley offers adventures all summer long with options for everyone in the family…
Pick-Your-Own Flowers: At Royal Oaks Farm in Lebanon, experience the beauty and serenity of their flower field as you snip your favorite blossoms and create your own unique bouquet With their goats grazing nearby and the breeze passing through the open fields, Royal Oaks provides a truly special activity with a price that says otherwise Hiking, Biking, & Bouldering: Take a hike to the five-county view atop Governor Dick Tower, ride for miles along on the Lebanon Valley Rail Trail, or discover a new hobby with outdoor bouldering at Clarence Schock Memorial Park. Outdoor recreation takes many forms in the Lebanon Valley, and we welcome you to explore at whatever pace you prefer!
Lakeside Escape: Step back in time at Mount Gretna Lake & Beach where you can enjoy the sun on your skin, your toes in the sand, and a reprieve from the summer heat in the cool lake water. Beyond the sandy shoreline, this familyfriendly respite features a high dive, sunning docks, big swing, snack bar, and their iconic giant Adirondack chair!
You-Pick Cherries, Berries, & Peaches: Summertime in the Valley calls for picking farm fresh fruits! From late May through early June, head over to Risser-Marvel Farm Market for strawberry picking. Then, as the summer continues into June and July, pick your own cherries at Honey Bear Orchards And right before the summer turns to fall, around mid-July through September, head back to the orchards at Honey Bear for peach picking!
Outdoor Dining: No matter the meal, outdoor dining is always on the table in the Lebanon Valley. Whether it’s grabbing brews with friends on the deck at the Bluebird Inn or enjoying farm fresh ice cream and a petting zoo at Patches Family Creamery, the Valley is rife with opportunities to enjoy the summer weather while you dine.
Summer is here in the Lebanon Valley—and you should be too.
Discover things to do and places to stay at VisitLebanonValley.com.
Shady Maple Smorgasbord
Enjoy a heaping helping of chicken pot pie, Lancaster County’s classic comfort food, and help a good cause at the same time. Fire companies in Bird-in-Hand, Bareville, Gap and more hold fundraising dinners every year.
Join the Lancaster Liederkranz — Lancaster’s German cultural club — for some traditional German songs, dances and culinary delights. The club also hosts several public outdoor festivals throughout the year. Prost!
Sample some pepper jam and shoofly pie at Kitchen Kettle Village. What started as a simple family jelly business has expanded into a village-sized shopping experience located in Intercourse featuring more than 40 shops, lodging, restaurants and special seasonal events.
Scream for ice cream and enjoy a farm-to-cone treat at one of these county spots. Fox Meadows Creamery, Ephrata: Choose from 24 flavors made on site with milk from the family’s dairy farm. Stop at the right time and you can watch it being made. The Milkhouse at Oregon Dairy, Lititz: Try one of their 25 hand-dipped flavors, then visit the deer, goats and Patches the pig. Lapp Valley Farm, New Holland: Butterfat from their Jersey cows makes this small-batch ice cream possible. After your treat, view the cows and pet the calves. Pine View Dairy, Lancaster: Pick up some homemade ice cream and farm-fresh milk and pet the calves.
Taste a Wilbur Bud. From the 1930s until 2016, the sweet smell of Wilbur Buds produced at the Wilbur Chocolate Co. factory would infuse the air of Lititz. The factory has shut down, but Wilbur Buds are still for sale at the retail store across the street from the factory building and they’re as good as ever.
Pick up a tin of Bob Ross Happy Little Tree Mints, a box of Gobstoppers, a pack of Black Jack chewing gum and more favorites at the Vintage Candy Shop on West King Street in Lancaster. Still need to satisfy your sweet tooth? Stop by their bakery café for an ice cream sundae, float, milkshake, coffee drink or even a New York egg cream.
Downtown Lancaster has plenty of spots to enjoy a craft cocktail, from Passerine and Proof to Shot and Bottle and The Horse Inn. One of the newest is Hi-Fi Izakaya, a cozy, late-night Japanese café and listening bar, located behind Issei Noodle, where you can enjoy creative Japanese small bites, a DJ spinning vinyl, Japanese beers and, of course, those cocktails.
Drink in a little history at Lancaster County’s oldest continuously operating tavern. Back when James Madison was president and the U.S. was deep in the War of 1812, a tavern opened its doors on the corner of Waterford and Front streets in Marietta. Over 200 years and a few name changes later, Shank’s Tavern is still serving up food and drinks in a friendly neighborhood atmosphere.
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Want to enjoy your food and drink with a view? Then try one of downtown Lancaster’s rooftop bars, all with a bird’seye view and a slightly different vibe — and height. Some possibilities: The Exchange at The Marriott at Penn Square; Altana Rooftop Lounge and Tellus360 on East King Street, and Little Mykonos on Orange Street.
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VINTAGE CANDY SHOP
Nestled in the heart of historic downtown Lancaster at 38 W. King Street, the Vintage Candy Shop offers a nostalgic trip down memory lane, with hundreds of novelty and retro candies. Our ice cream counter serves handdipped local Kreider Farms ice cream, sundaes, banana splits, hand-made iced coffees, lattes, NY egg creams & more. Toy & candy vending machines for 25¢ and a working candy cigarette machine. Come enjoy the warm, inviting atmosphere with ample indoor seating and complimentary Wi-Fi.
Buy fruits, vegetables, pumpkins, pies or other baked goods at a roadside stand.
The view from The Exchange in Lancaster.
Try a toasted cheeseburger at the Ephrata Fair. Then check out the rides, games, animals, agricultural exhibits, contests and more. Billed as Pennsylvania’s biggest street fair, it’s been an Ephrata tradition since 1919.
Take a break from the midwinter doldrums and head to Lititz for the 10-day Fire & Ice Festival, which features wowworthy ice sculptures and live ice carving along with a chance to warm up while sampling entries in the annual chili cookoff. There’s also a maker’s market, food trucks, live music, a scavenger hunt and more.
Find inspiration for your own backyard at one of several garden tours held in communities throughout Lancaster County. Marietta, Strasburg and Columbia all host self-guided tours of mostly private gardens in June. The Columbia tour also incorporates plein air artists at each garden stop.
From May to December, downtown Lancaster is alive with the sound of music every third Friday from 5-8 p.m. Music Fridays feature live performances at over a dozen locations throughout the city.
The Falmouth Goat Races began as a joke more than 40 years ago and they’re now an institution. Come as a spectator and watch handlers and their animals compete. Or bring your own goat and join the race yourself. Don’t have one? No worries. You might be able to rent one at the event, which takes place every September at Governor Stables Park.
If you’re a fan of the whoopie pie, the return of the Whoopie Pie Festival this year to Hershey Farm Resort will have you yellling “Whoopee!” The September event includes lots of fun whoopie pie-related activities, but the real attractions are the whoopie pies themselves — in over 400 different flavors.
LEARNING EXPERIENCES
Meet the Speedwell wolves on a tour of the Wolf Sanctuary of PA, an 80-acre natural refuge north of Lititz. Guided tours include stops to see some of the packs and hear their stories, as well as learn about wolf biology and conservation.
Make some time to visit North America’s largest collection of watches, clocks and timekeeping instruments at Columbia’s National Watch and Clock Museum.
Travel back in time to the North Museum in Lancaster and see fossils and bones of ancient animals such as Sphodrosaurus pennsylvanicus, a Triassic reptile that resided in what would later become Lancaster County over 200 million years ago.
Take a relaxing walk in a hidden gem located just outside of Lancaster. The Tanger Arboretum features a large variety of plant life including a dwarf conifer garden. It’s open seven days a week from dawn to dusk — and it’s free to tour.
More than a dozen Ephrata businesses use the name “Cloister,” but there is only one Ephrata Cloister, a historical treasure every Lancaster County resident must explore. These 275-year-old buildings, the very foundation of the town of Ephrata, hold stories of the spiritual journeys of some of Lancaster County’s earliest residents, complete with amazing Germanic architecture, unique music and art, and an intriguing backstory.
Lancaster County is filled with treasures found in the most unlikely places, such as the glass mosaic window that greets all who come to exercise in the downtown YMCA. Known simply as the Lancaster YMCA stained glass window, this museum-worthy masterpiece holds 1,000 pieces of colored glass gems and weighs almost 1,000 pounds.
Gain an appreciation for how work was done back in the day by attending the Thresherman’s Reunion on the grounds of the Rough & Tumble Engineers Association in Kinzers. The annual event features old-fashioned steam traction engines and hit-and-miss gas engines, antique tractors, an operating sawmill, a working blacksmith shop and more.
Discover the history of northeastern Lancaster County with a visit to the Historical Society of the Cocalico Valley’s Theodore Sprecher Museum. Housed in the Connell Mansion, a Victorian home built in 1869 on the corner of Oak and Main streets in Ephrata, the museum includes three floors of displays and period rooms, all free and open to the public.
Tour Wheatland — the 22-acre Federal-style mansion where James Buchanan — the 15th president of the United States — lived for two decades.
Pay respects to Lancaster painter Charles Demuth and Gen. John Reynolds — the highest ranking officer to die at Gettysburg — both buried in Lancaster Cemetery
Learn about early Pennsylvania German life at Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum, a living history museum that includes an 1800s hotel, schoolhouse, blacksmith shop and more, along with the largest collection of Pennsylvania German artifacts in the country.
Check out the collection of more than 100 historic locomotives and railroad cars and learn about the area’s rich railroad history at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg.
Take a Historic Lancaster Walking Tour and follow a costumed guide to over 50 locations spanning more than 250 years of Lancaster city history. 64
Tour the stone house just south of Quarryville that is the birthplace of famed steamboat inventor and Lancaster County native Robert Fulton.
Visit the 1719 Herr House, the oldest Mennonite meetinghouse still standing in the Western Hemisphere. The Herr House is part of the 1719 Museum, an 11-acre site that also includes a full-size reproduction of a Native longhouse along with other buildings and exhibits tracing the formation of Lancaster County.
Learn about Lancaster County Amish culture and customs with a trip to the Amish Farm & Home. Take a guided tour of the historic farmhouse and one-room school, then enjoy a self-guided visit to the 15-acre farm. Need to relax? Take a yoga class with some cuddly goats.
Take a walk in an enchanted forest, sing songs, listen to stories, build a gnome house and look for signs of gnomes at Gnome Countryside in Kirkwood. More than 15,000 kids — and adults — have visited this wooded attraction for its naturebased programming over more than 25 years.
Learn how ice cream is made, taste unlimited samples, milk a mechanical cow and develop your very own ice cream flavor in the Taste Lab at Turkey Hill Experience in Columbia. 78 80 u
Fun, interactive learning awaits kids ages 2-10 at Hands-On House Children’s Museum, where you’ll find exhibits like Amazing Airways, Little Valley Farm, Mason’s Active Adventure Garden, Construction Zone and more.
Enjoy over 30 rides and attractions, along with Duke’s Lagoon water play area, live entertainment and more at Dutch Wonderland, a theme park that’s been entertaining families for over 60 years.
Spend a day at Roots Market in Manheim or Green Dragon in Ephrata. If you can’t find it at one of these markets, there’s a good chance it doesn’t exist. From cheeses and crafts to computer games and collectibles, the local farmers markets and auctions literally have something for everyone.
Watch the sport of kings on a Sunday afternoon at Forney Field in Rothsville, courtesy of the Lancaster Polo Club. Gates open at 1 and play starts at 2:30 p.m. Tailgating is expected, so bring your lawn chairs, snacks and of course your favorite beverage! The season runs from June to October. u 89 93 p 96
Shop Lancaster Central Market, the oldest continuously running public farmers market in the country since 1730. More than 60 vendors offer local produce, locally sourced meat, poultry and more.
If you’re a bookworm, check out one of the county’s independent bookstores, including the recently opened Bookshelf Shenanigans in Elizabethtown, where you can explore a maze of bookshelves offering everything from mysteries to graphic novels to Amish romances. You’ll find stickers, pens bookplates and literary-themed teas, too. Pro tip: Head down the street and grab a cappuccino at EVO 206 at 206 S. Market St. afterward.
Watch the mud fly during some high-octane competition at Buck Motorsports Park south of Lancaster, where you’ll find tractor pulls, monster truck showdowns, demolition derbies and more every weekend, April through September.
Take yourself out to a ballgame at Penn Medicine Park, home of the Stormers, Lancaster’s very own professional Atlantic League baseball team.
Ever wonder how handcrafted furniture is made? Take a guided tour of the George’s Furniture woodshop and showroom in Marietta and see the step-by-step furniture-making process, from the drying and cutting of wood to the application of finishes.
Browse the shops in Lititz, where you’ll find everything from fashions, furniture and antiques to specialty stores offering gourmet foods, coffees and teas, candy, vintage clothing, fiber arts and more.
Step up to the bar — the plant bar, that is. Visit the Gallery Grow Plant Bar in downtown Lancaster, where you can build your own terrarium or purchase a plant and container and pot it yourself at the complimentary planting bar.
Get your groove on and add some vinyl to your collection by checking out one of Lancaster County’s independent record stores. You’ll find several options downtown, including Stan’s Record Bar, CI Records & Skates, Dreaming Human, A Day in the Life Records and Angry, Young & Poor. Or venture beyond the city to Retro Rocks on Columbia Avenue, Lititz Music Co. in Lititz and the Record Connection in Ephrata.
Find funky collectibles and retro clothing at one of the many vintage shops on the 300 block of North Queen Street in Lancaster.
Head to Adamstown and go treasure hunting along a 7-mile stretch of Route 272 known as Antiques Capital USA that boasts dozens of antique shops and thousands of dealers. Visit during one of three extravaganza weekends — in April, June and September — for more dealers, bargains and extended hours.
Have a scary good time at haunted attractions such as Jason’s Woods and Field of Screams. (Halloween seems to last for nearly two months in Lancaster County.)
Hop aboard a bus for a tour of Kreider Farms in Manheim, where you can watch cows getting milked on the milking merrygo-round, climb a 100-foot silo observation tower and drive down the middle of the maternity barn. If you’re lucky, you might see a newborn calf.
Feeling bored? Play a board game. Sure, you can do that at home, but why not grab a group and head to The Midnight Oil or Mayhem Bookstore & Board Game Café, both in Lancaster. Both spots offer a large selection of board games and unlimited all-day play for a small fee. While you’re there, grab a coffee or tea to enjoy while you play.
Get creative. Weave a basket, design mosaic jewelry, craft a redware ornament and more. The Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen offers a year-long calendar of educational workshops where you can try your hand at crafts representing a variety of disciplines, from fiber and stained glass to ceramics and metalwork. No experience? No worries. Many classes are geared toward beginners.
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