Next week I am driving with my 6 and 10 year old daughters from Washington DC to Niagara Falls. Google maps the shortest way as straight up through Pennsylvania 70W / 30W / 99 N to 322/219. I have looked everywhere - using Roadtrippers app, TripAdvisor and old fashioned maps and can find nothing of interest to stop for in the Pennsylvania portion (once we get past Antietam, Hagerstown, etc which are too close to our starting point to stop)

Anyone have recommendations? I guess we'll drive the 7 1/2 hours straight through to our hotel in NY, but usually we like to break up road trips by stopping in a little town, use a hotel with a pool, and find something to do in the town or parks for a couple hours. We like kitsch, we like museums, we like hands on stuff. Heck, we have had a good time at an excellent rest stop playground. Thanks!

Hello,

If you were to take a route a bit more to the west, you could do a fun coal mine tour in Ashland, PA. Our family did this a few years ago and really enjoyed it (http://www.fun-family-vacations.com/coal-mine-tour.html).

There is also Gettysburg or the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon which are fun short stops (although your girls may be young for Gettysburg).

Hope this helps. Have a fun trip.

- Mike

It would add to your driving time as you would have to take a somewhat different route than the shortest one, but you might consider a stop in or around Ithaca, which has some beautiful waterfalls that are quite different than Niagara Falls. For example, Taughannock Falls is the highest single-drop waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains, Buttermilk Falls is quite lovely, etc.

Enjoy!

This might be TOTALLY out of your way but I was thinking what I did w/ my boys in PA, but this might be too far west. Seven Springs Resort is a 4-season place to visit. We had relatives nearby and in the off-ski season, they had toboggans slides to ride, and a big game rm w/ skitball and other arcade games where they could accumulate tickets and win prizes. This was yrs ago, and don't know if it's there anymore.

Your girls are young, but the Flight 93 Nat'l Memorial is also in western PA...https://www.nps.gov/flni.

If you are going near Buffalo, NY, the Anchor Bar is the home of the original buffalo wings. Not my favorite food, but it's always fun to see where something started, and these were delicious and not greasy!

If you are near the Amish country, this is interesting for all ages. Good luck!

Hershey PA may be a bit out of the way, but worth a stop...

I took my nephews to Gettysburg National Military Park when they were 6 and 9 and they loved it. We spend a whole day there. You can hike or do the auto-tour. We did both. Now, I am planning to take my daughters, 7 and 10, in the near future. It is 37 minutes off I70W.

As Momof3boys suggested, the Anchor Bar in 1047 Main St, Buffalo, NY (original location) is the birthplace of the buffalo wings. I had them hot. They were very good. It is only 10 minutes off I190W.

Hope this helps. Have a happy and safe journey.

You could loop north into NY using I81 and visit Cooperstown if you are a baseball fan.

Thanks so much all. Wed decided to shift our route to the east just slightly to go through Harrisburg, Williamsport and Corning, then turn west. Were told the Corning Museum of Glass is great and we will pass the Little League Museum and those work for us! Thanks!

Yes, the Corning Museum of Glass is very good.

If you are going through Williamsport, make a stop at the Little League headquarters in South Williamsport.
Howard J. Lamade started Little League in Williamsport.