Second attempt at hosting a road meet. Those who remember Pittsburgh in 2019 know that didn't go 100% according to plan since I was still learning the art of roadmeets. Hopefully this goes better!
Why fall? Pennsylvania may be no New England, but the leaves turning is always a good spectacle. I'm aiming for peak fall, hence October - early November.
Bedford County is plenty scenic and for those willing to make the trip (and haven't traveled in PA much), it would be a good introduction to a lesser known part of the state. Planned goodies include around 10 covered bridges, a gravity hill, and the abandoned PA turnpike...but not the one you're thinking of!
It has also been around 9 years since the CSVT has opened. At the time of that meet, there was no bridge over the Susquehanna and that meet was focused on stubs and clinching. Now that more of the project is open, we can view some of the construction. Old alignment goodness includes old US 11/15 in Selinsgrove. Can also get a covered bridge fix. According to the project website, it's supposed to be open in 2026. Maybe; there's no month announced.
I'll make a poll for those who want to vote.
Rough draft of ideas for either meet:
Bedford County-10 covered bridges. I did this myself a few weeks ago; instead of making every single one a stop, I'll probably pick 2 of the most interesting ones and then let everyone choose on where to stop (or even skip). A lot them are off of PA 96 between PA 31 and PA 869.
-Gravity Hill is also off of PA 96.
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EDIT: @Alps has informed me that the original PA Turnpike interchange at Breezewood is in fact on PTC property, and therefore is considered trespassing. He has photographed this area, but you can visit this area with a YMMV warning. This interchange is on the other side of US 30, near the start of the public trail; the bridge over US 30 was removed years ago.
-Restaurant: Woodhaven BBQ. It's in view of a covered bridge and thus thematically appropriate.
-Post meet ideas: Sunset at Shawnee State Park
CSVT Revisited-Driving over the new Susquehanna River Bridge and the US 15 / PA 147 interchange. Because of landscaping work ever since the first meet, views of the interchange from County Line Road (which runs south of the interchange) have been obstructed.
-New US 15 freeway construction from various roads. IF the work is finished, actually driving the freeway.
-New PA 147 interchange from US 15 in Shamokin Dam. This is different from the northern section; while that interchange services through traffic to I-80, this interchange is meant to service local traffic to Sunbury -- across the Susquehanna River. I need to scout this area out, but it seems like access is from a neighborhood.
-Old US 11/15 in Shamokin Dam. A decent chunk of it is just another local street, but there are two abandoned sections near US 522 and PA 147 (Sunbury).
-Two covered bridges near Lewisburg. There is one pedestrian covered bridge built by Bucknell University students to commemorate Hurricane Agnes.
-Restaurant: iunno
-Post meet ideas: KNOEBELS
I will scout out these locations in the coming months, and will probably make a follow up post in this thread then.
I vote for Bedford County because in 2028 I was planning a CSVT revisit to drive the thruway since it will be open by then tied in with checking out the I-99/ I-80/ US 220 interchange construction, we would actually start in Bellefonte first and go from there.
I saw the old interchange (https://www.alpsroads.net/roads/pa/tpk/a.html), but as I cite there, it's "technically off-limits". So nix it. It's good you put it out there, people can take their own risks to see it, but should not be official.
I'm not sure how likely this is for me given that I'm already eyeing four other meets in the year, but two of those aren't officially scheduled yet, so who knows. Voting for Bedford since that would provide more new stuff to see for me.
Quote from: Alps on February 11, 2026, 06:35:05 PMI saw the old interchange (https://www.alpsroads.net/roads/pa/tpk/a.html), but as I cite there, it's "technically off-limits". So nix it. It's good you put it out there, people can take their own risks to see it, but should not be official.
Thanks for the catch; edited the post.
I might replace this with a "scenic view" spot but it's surprisingly hard to find an overlook in Bedford County.
Definitely interested in either one of these! The one catch is that it's a big enough trip that it would probably require a few vacation days, and my new employer isn't as generous with those as my old employer, so I'd have to see what is and isn't in the budget.
Not going to rule it out, but work commitments on the weekends that time of year may keep me from being able to attend.
CSVT would be interesting. I rode thru the construction area in January.
Quote from: noelbotevera on February 11, 2026, 11:33:49 PMQuote from: Alps on February 11, 2026, 06:35:05 PMI saw the old interchange (https://www.alpsroads.net/roads/pa/tpk/a.html), but as I cite there, it's "technically off-limits". So nix it. It's good you put it out there, people can take their own risks to see it, but should not be official.
Thanks for the catch; edited the post.
I might replace this with a "scenic view" spot but it's surprisingly hard to find an overlook in Bedford County.
There used to be a hotel here...
https://maps.app.goo.gl/7AcPboV6XmxvbhtL6
So life's been getting in the way and I'm not sure if I'll be able to host this meet. I'll be starting a new job in Huntsville, AL soon and therefore can't guarantee I'll be up here this autumn. I'll probably be declaring this meet cancelled within a month; hopefully this doesn't torpedo any travel plans anyone had.
Quote from: noelbotevera on May 06, 2026, 04:32:33 PMSo life's been getting in the way and I'm not sure if I'll be able to host this meet. I'll be starting a new job in Huntsville, AL soon and therefore can't guarantee I'll be up here this autumn. I'll probably be declaring this meet cancelled within a month; hopefully this doesn't torpedo any travel plans anyone had.
Huntsville? Wow! You will be close to Cody Goodman ;-) Best of luck to you!
Quote from: noelbotevera on May 06, 2026, 04:32:33 PMSo life's been getting in the way and I'm not sure if I'll be able to host this meet. I'll be starting a new job in Huntsville, AL soon and therefore can't guarantee I'll be up here this autumn. I'll probably be declaring this meet cancelled within a month; hopefully this doesn't torpedo any travel plans anyone had.
Congrats on the new job! You might want to get in touch with Cody Goodman as he's in Huntsville and might be able to help you out a bit.
Now that I've more or less completed my move to Huntsville (sort of... I'm not writing this post in the comfort of an apartment, but that is a story for another time) and have a picture of what my new job entails, here's the deal with this meet.
I can't promise booking PTO and flying up from Nashville (closest major airport) to host this meet myself. However, I was in the middle of writing an itinerary for this meet. I never got to scout the area, but visited both areas in winter of this year. Hence, some information may be outdated or inaccurate since I'm going off of memory.
I would be willing to finish writing an itinerary and let someone else host this meet. If this is a faux pas, then I'm willing to declare this meet dead. I'm still interested in hosting a meet, but it's likely going to be somewhere else.