Well, Pennsylvania is very amusing if you ask me. The Keystone State offers a variety of amusement and theme parks for us to enjoy. Whether you’re looking for the craziest coasters or the wettest water rides, you’re sure to find something that’s right up your alley…or maybe I should say track…go-kart track, that is. In fact, Pennsylvania boasts more amusement parks than any other state! 

Probably the most famous park in Pennsylvania is HersheyPark, and we can attest to that here at CampingPA. We receive a lot of email requests about Hershey Park and the story we ran in May 1998 is still one of our most popular stories. If you’d like to read it, check out the story. 

If you’re looking for roller coasters, did you know that you could ride one that is actually a national historic landmark? Lakemont Park’s “Leap-The-Dips” roller coaster (built in 1902) is the ride is the last remaining Figure Eight roller coaster known to exist in the world.  It is also the world's oldest operating coaster and is on the National Registry of Historic Places. Lakemont Park, in Altoona, opened in 1894 as a trolley park is now the 8th oldest amusement park in the United States. Kennywood Park, in West Mifflin, has 6 roller coasters including it’s newest arrival for the 2001 season, Phantom's Revenge. Knoebels (has 47 rides, including two world-class wooden roller coasters, the Phoenix and the Twister. They also claim to be America's largest FREE-Admission amusement park…you can’t beat that now, can you? Williams Grove Amusement Park (Mechanicsburg) also has a couple coasters in addition to other adult rides, family rides and kiddy rides. 

Speaking of the kiddies…besides Williams Grove there are other parks in PA that cater to the little ones. Dutch Wonderland, in Lancaster, believes that it’s possible to be a park that’s as much fun for the little kids as it is for the big kids. They too offer rides for little kids, bigger kids and the family. Another place that the little ones are sure to enjoy is Sesame Place in Langhorne. Can’t you just imagine the looks on the kids’ faces when they see Big Bird up close and personal? 

Now if you’d like to cool off a little, and don’t care how your hair looks, you’ll probably want to venture out to one of the waterparks found throughout the state. Wild Water Kingdom (at Dorney Park in Allentown) is always fun. You can even visit both parks for one price. Camelbeach Waterpark in the Poconos boasts Pennsylvania's Largest Waterpark Wave Pool, Kahuna Lagoon. Soak Zone at Idelwild (Ligonier) has 14 waterslides and a “crazy water activity area”. Sand Castle Water Park (Pittsburgh) has 15 waterslides, a wave pool and go-karts. By the way, the oldest operating water ride is The Old Mill at Kennywood (West Mifflin). It was built 1901 and rebuilt in 1926 

If you’re into go-karts, you could also check out Caddie Shak Amusements (Donegal), DelGrosso’s Amusement Park (Tipton), Eagle Falls Adventure Park (Lancaster), Statler’s Fun Center (Greensburg) and numerous others throughout the state. 

If this hasn’t been amusing enough for you, we’ve decided to sweeten the pot a little bit. Click on this link here to find out how you can have a wet, wild or just plain old amusing time for less than you think.

Have fun!