Scranton (Winter)

Tucked into a heavy coat of white stuff over winter, Scranton and its sister city Wilkes-Barre grew and prospered thanks to iron smelters and anthracite coal mines. Immigrants from all over Europe forged lives as well as pig-iron in these mountain towns and the history they created may be seen in the Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum. Scranton and Wilkes-Barre are not all heavy industry. Everhart Museum is the largest public museum in Northeastern Pennsylvania and features displays on science, history, culture and art as well as rotating exhibits; a recent one featured fairy tale art from children’s books. Some of the most beautiful ...

Tucked into a heavy coat of white stuff over winter, Scranton and its sister city Wilkes-Barre grew and prospered thanks to iron smelters and anthracite coal mines. Immigrants from all over Europe forged lives as well as pig-iron in these mountain towns and the history they created may be seen in the Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum. Scranton and Wilkes-Barre are not all heavy industry. Everhart Museum is the largest public museum in Northeastern Pennsylvania and features displays on science, history, culture and art as well as rotating exhibits; a recent one featured fairy tale art from children’s books. Some of the most beautiful mountain scenery in Pennsylvania surrounds the area’s ski resorts and parks. The 1,411-acre Lackawanna State Park, ten miles north of Scranton, is built around 198-acre Lackawanna Lake. X-country skiing, sledding, tobogganing, ice fishing and ice skating are favorite winter activities. And this is Pennsylvania, where they know beer: one of the region’s oldest breweries, Lion Beer, is in Scranton; check early each month to sign up for a tour (tours fill up fast).

About the Expert

Joanne Miller is the author of several Moon guidebooks, including Pennsylvania Handbook, Chesapeake Bay Handbook, and Maryland/Delaware Handbook.