Top attractions in Pennsylvania
38 national parks, ski areas, museums, landmarks and natural wonders in Pennsylvania, each with when to go, where to stay and what’s nearby. Ranked by how many people look them up and how many visit.
The 20 top attractions in Pennsylvania
An even mix of how many people read about each place and, where it’s counted, how many visit.
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2🏛 Museum · in Philadelphia, PAAcademy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University60K readers
3🏛 Museum · in Philadelphia, PABarnes Foundation50K readers
4🏞 National Historical Park · in Philadelphia, PAIndependence National Historical Park1.9M visitors (2025) · 28K readers
5🏞 National Historical Park · in Upper Merion Township, PAValley Forge National Historical Park1.8M visitors (2025) · 19K readers
Flight 93 National Memorial🏛 National Memorial · in Stonycreek Township, PA286Kvisitors 20257
Allegheny National Forest🌲 National forest · in Sheffield Township, PA19Kreaders a year8
Gettysburg National Military Park🏛 National Military Park · in Cumberland Township, PA730Kvisitors 20259
Conneaut Lake Park🎢 Theme park · in Conneaut Lakeshore, PA17Kreaders a year10
Carpenters' Hall🏛 Museum · in Philadelphia, PA16Kreaders a year11
Fort Necessity National Battlefield🏛 National Battlefield · in Wharton Township, PA226Kvisitors 202512
Cherry Springs State Park🌲 State park · in West Branch Township, PA14Kreaders a year13
Boathouse Row📍 Landmark · in Philadelphia, PA11Kreaders a year14
Duffy's Cut📍 Landmark · in East Whiteland Township, PA11Kreaders a year15
Steamtown National Historic Site🏛 National Historic Site · in Scranton, PA61Kvisitors 202516
Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site🏛 National Historic Site · in Allegheny Township, PA163Kvisitors 202517
Eisenhower National Historic Site🏛 National Historic Site · in Cumberland Township, PA75Kvisitors 202518
Bartram's Garden🌸 Garden · in Philadelphia, PA8.8Kreaders a year19
Camelback Mountain Resort⛷ Ski area · in Jackson Township, PA8Kreaders a year20
Brandywine Museum of Art🏛 Museum · in Chadds Ford Township, PA6.9Kreaders a yearPhoto credits
Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School National Monument: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain · Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University: See below, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Barnes Foundation: Dmadeo, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Independence National Historical Park: Bev Sykes from Davis, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0 · Valley Forge National Historical Park: The original uploader was JGHowes at English Wikipedia. (Original text: en:User, Attribution
Best to visit in October
Places with a real season where October is one of the best months: mild weather and, where the Park Service counts visitors, quieter than average.
🏞 National Monument · in North Middleton Township, PACarlisle Federal Indian Boarding School National Monument73K readers🏛 Museum · in Philadelphia, PAAcademy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University60K readers🏛 Museum · in Philadelphia, PABarnes Foundation50K readers🏞 National Historical Park · in Philadelphia, PAIndependence National Historical Park1.9M visitors (2025) · 28K readers🏞 National Historical Park · in Upper Merion Township, PAValley Forge National Historical Park1.8M visitors (2025) · 19K readers🏛 National Military Park · in Cumberland Township, PAGettysburg National Military Park730K visitors (2025) · 18K readers🏛 Museum · in Philadelphia, PACarpenters' Hall16K readers📍 Landmark · in Philadelphia, PABoathouse Row11K readersPhoto credits
Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School National Monument: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain · Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University: See below, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Barnes Foundation: Dmadeo, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Independence National Historical Park: Bev Sykes from Davis, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0 · Valley Forge National Historical Park: The original uploader was JGHowes at English Wikipedia. (Original text: en:User, Attribution · Gettysburg National Military Park: David Dugan, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Carpenters' Hall: Davidt8, Public domain · Boathouse Row: Jeffrey M. Vinocur, CC BY 2.5
Most visited
Latest yearly visitor counts (National Park Service, else Wikidata).
Independence National Historical Park🏞 National Historical Park · in Philadelphia, PA1.9M20252Valley Forge National Historical Park🏞 National Historical Park · in Upper Merion Township, PA1.8M20253Gettysburg National Military Park🏛 National Military Park · in Cumberland Township, PA730K20254Flight 93 National Memorial🏛 National Memorial · in Stonycreek Township, PA286K20255Fort Necessity National Battlefield🏛 National Battlefield · in Wharton Township, PA226K20256Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site🏛 National Historic Site · in Allegheny Township, PA163K20257Eisenhower National Historic Site🏛 National Historic Site · in Cumberland Township, PA75K20258
Johnstown Flood National Memorial🏛 National Memorial · in Adams Township, PA75K20259Steamtown National Historic Site🏛 National Historic Site · in Scranton, PA61K202510
Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site🏛 National Historic Site · in Union Township, PA46K2025Biggest ski areas
Vertical drop, from OpenSkiMap.
Blue Knob⛷ Ski area · in Pavia Township, PA1,007 ft24 runs3
Montage Mountain Ski Area⛷ Ski area · in Scranton, PA998 ft25 runs4⛷Whitetail Resort⛷ Ski area · in Montgomery Township, PA927 ft21 runs5⛷Elk Mountain Ski Resort⛷ Ski area · in Herrick Township, PA908 ft28 runs6Camelback Mountain Resort⛷ Ski area · in Jackson Township, PA804 ft37 runs7
Laurel Mountain Ski Resort⛷ Ski area · in Ligonier Township, PA760 ft21 runs8⛷Seven Springs Mountain Resort⛷ Ski area · in Seven Springs, PA738 ft52 runs9⛷Shawnee Mountain⛷ Ski area · in Smithfield Township, PA669 ft27 runsBy type
Attractions in nearby states
Every attraction in Pennsylvania
38 attractions
Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School National Monument🏞 National Monument · in North Middleton Township, PA73Kreaders a year2Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University🏛 Museum · in Philadelphia, PA60Kreaders a year3Barnes Foundation🏛 Museum · in Philadelphia, PA50Kreaders a year4Independence National Historical Park🏞 National Historical Park · in Philadelphia, PA1.9Mvisitors 20255Valley Forge National Historical Park🏞 National Historical Park · in Upper Merion Township, PA1.8Mvisitors 20256Flight 93 National Memorial🏛 National Memorial · in Stonycreek Township, PA286Kvisitors 20257Allegheny National Forest🌲 National forest · in Sheffield Township, PA19Kreaders a year8Gettysburg National Military Park🏛 National Military Park · in Cumberland Township, PA730Kvisitors 20259Conneaut Lake Park🎢 Theme park · in Conneaut Lakeshore, PA17Kreaders a year10Carpenters' Hall🏛 Museum · in Philadelphia, PA16Kreaders a year11Fort Necessity National Battlefield🏛 National Battlefield · in Wharton Township, PA226Kvisitors 202512Cherry Springs State Park🌲 State park · in West Branch Township, PA14Kreaders a year13Boathouse Row📍 Landmark · in Philadelphia, PA11Kreaders a year14Duffy's Cut📍 Landmark · in East Whiteland Township, PA11Kreaders a year15Steamtown National Historic Site🏛 National Historic Site · in Scranton, PA61Kvisitors 202516Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site🏛 National Historic Site · in Allegheny Township, PA163Kvisitors 202517Eisenhower National Historic Site🏛 National Historic Site · in Cumberland Township, PA75Kvisitors 202518Bartram's Garden🌸 Garden · in Philadelphia, PA8.8Kreaders a year19Camelback Mountain Resort⛷ Ski area · in Jackson Township, PA8Kreaders a year20Brandywine Museum of Art🏛 Museum · in Chadds Ford Township, PA6.9Kreaders a year21
Benjamin Franklin National Memorial📍 Landmark · in Philadelphia, PA6.6Kreaders a year22
Brandywine Battlefield🏺 Ancient site · in Chadds Ford Township, PA6.6Kreaders a year23
Bushkill Park🎢 Theme park · in Forks Township, PA6.6Kreaders a year24
Codorus State Park🌲 State park · in West Manheim Township, PA6.6Kreaders a year25Johnstown Flood National Memorial🏛 National Memorial · in Adams Township, PA75Kvisitors 202526
Athenaeum of Philadelphia🏛 Museum · in Philadelphia, PA6.2Kreaders a year27Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site🏛 National Historic Site · in Union Township, PA46Kvisitors 202528
Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site🏛 National Historic Site · in Philadelphia, PA8.1Kvisitors 202429Blue Knob⛷ Ski area · in Pavia Township, PA4.7Kreaders a year30⛷Blue Mountain Resort⛷ Ski area · in Lower Towamensing Township, PA4.4Kreaders a year31Montage Mountain Ski Area⛷ Ski area · in Scranton, PA3.3Kreaders a year32
Friendship Hill National Historic Site🏛 National Historic Site · in Springhill Township, PA18Kvisitors 202533⛷Elk Mountain Ski Resort⛷ Ski area · in Herrick Township, PA2.2Kreaders a year34
Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial🏛 National Memorial · in Philadelphia, PA1.7Kvisitors 202535⛷Shawnee Mountain⛷ Ski area · in Smithfield Township, PA36⛷Seven Springs Mountain Resort⛷ Ski area · in Seven Springs, PA37⛷Whitetail Resort⛷ Ski area · in Montgomery Township, PA38Laurel Mountain Ski Resort⛷ Ski area · in Ligonier Township, PAHow we rank: an even mix of how many people read about each place on Wikipedia (a typical month, so one viral week can’t sway it) and, where it’s counted, how many visit (National Park Service for park units, else Wikidata, last 5 years). Places without a visitor count rank on readers alone. Closed, destroyed and private places stay listed but aren’t ranked. Sources: National Park Service · OpenSkiMap / OpenStreetMap contributors · Wikidata · Wikipedia · photos via Wikimedia Commons.
Attractions in Pennsylvania
What are the top attractions in Pennsylvania?
Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School National Monument, Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Barnes Foundation, Independence National Historical Park and Valley Forge National Historical Park, ranked by how many people read about them and, where counted, how many visit.
What is the most visited attraction in Pennsylvania?
Independence National Historical Park, with about 1,926,580 visitors in 2025 (National Park Service).
How many national parks are in Pennsylvania?
None. Pennsylvania has 14 other National Park Service sites.
Where should I go in Pennsylvania in October?
Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School National Monument, Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University and Barnes Foundation: October is one of their best months, with mild weather.