Preview: This 73.5-mile drive traces a serpentine path through the Lancaster Amish Country, avoiding for the most part the highly promoted tourist routes. It offers glimpses of Amish life and despite following the path less traveled, still offers opportunities to shop. Side trips to Landis Valley Museum and Ephrata Cloister offer looks at daily life centered around two distinct religious cultures. The narrow streets of the eighteenth-century villages and towns on this tour make parts of the drive unsuitable for recreational vehicles. This drive starts in Morgantown and snakes its way south and west across the verdant Lancaster Valley, passing through Amish villages and historic towns before ending at Lancaster. The Lancaster County Amish settlement is the oldest in the United States. Their presence and various sites along the tour emphasize the significance of one of this country’s founding tenets— “freedom of religion.” On this drive, you will share the road with the clip-clop of horse hooves and whir of buggy wheels. Views span an engaging farm tapestry of classic white farmhouses, massive Pennsylvania bank barns, silos, livestock, and corncribs. Farm stands, roadside tables, and wheelbarrows loaded with seasonal produce put forth tasty invitations to interrupt the drive. Special attractions: Amish country images; Ephrata Cloister; Landis Valley Museum; historic Lititz and Lancaster; James Buchanan’s Wheatland; Mascot Roller Mills and the Ressler Family House; walking tours, museums, shopping, Pennsylvania Dutch dining, and Amish buggy and hot-air balloon rides. This chapter is a complete description of a scenic drive with a route map and information on the best travel seasons, interesting sites, recreation opportunities, camping locations, and much more.
© Copyright Rhonda & George Ostertag published by Falcon Publishing all rights reserved.
Best Time to Go: Year-round
This travel guide comes from:
Scenic Driving Pennsylvania Guide Book
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Date of Trip: 9/21/2003
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Definitely go in the autumn -- the colors in this area are spectacular this time of year. This part of PA is full of little Amish communities. Be sure to buy some bread and baked goods.
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