JPI's Harrisburg-Hershey area road meet, May 2026

[hotdogPi]

I will be there.

[jpi]

Hello everyone,
Just touching base, we had a fairly big snow storm last month and about to get more snow tonight. Next month when hopefully the snow melts I will resume scouting and nailing down the route and stops we will be making, as for attendance for those of you who are not on facebook just let me know yeah or nay by May 2, we are now just shy of 3 months togo! 

[jpi]

Happy Sunday everyone! Just a quick update, this coming Saturday myself and Mark David Moore will be scouting and driving what will be the planned tour for this meet, we are just about 2 months out! 

[jpi]

Above is one of the landmarks we will check out, this is also where I plan on getting our group pic 

[skatcher]

Above is one of the landmarks we will check out, this is also where I plan on getting our group pic 

We should also get a second pic there with everybody holding their favorite Hershey bars up, maybe as part of a goofy pose pic

[jpi]

we shall see 

[hbelkins]

Above is one of the landmarks we will check out, this is also where I plan on getting our group pic 

We should also get a second pic there with everybody holding their favorite Hershey bars up, maybe as part of a goofy pose pic

What if somebody brings a Milky Way bar?

[Alps]

Nestle or bust.

[Brandon]

Above is one of the landmarks we will check out, this is also where I plan on getting our group pic 

We should also get a second pic there with everybody holding their favorite Hershey bars up, maybe as part of a goofy pose pic

What if somebody brings a Milky Way bar?

Heresy.

[Big John]

Above is one of the landmarks we will check out, this is also where I plan on getting our group pic 

We should also get a second pic there with everybody holding their favorite Hershey bars up, maybe as part of a goofy pose pic

What if somebody brings a Milky Way bar?

Heresy.

Spelled close to Hershey.

[jpi]

Happy Sunday everyone! Yesterday myself and Mark David Moore ventured out to do more scouting and drive what will be the planned route of this meet, overall it went well and we had nice sunny weather and not as windy as the day before. From the time we left the Target parking lot near Gilligans Restaurant to the time we got down to Enola along US 11- 15 was about 4 hours and that's with planned stops so this tour should not drag too long. Overall traffic was not bad but it will probably pick up in the Hershey area by mid May. The Hershey billboard (pictured above in this thread) should be accessible with no issues and this is where I'm planning our group photo. we were also able to park in some areas where Penndot has "no trespassing" signs, they were all knocked down and no one was around that could potentially kick us out, besides those stops won't be very long stops. After checking out the 83 constructions we headed to the north side of Harrisburg along 22/322, checked out Fort Hunt and the covered bridge Mark had mentioned then ventured up to Newport (the northern most point of this tour) and checked out the truss- open grate bridge on PA 34 that crosses the Junita river. From there we ran the old alignment of 22/322 back towards Clarks Ferry and stopped at Rutters where an old alignment is accessible and walkable. Then we drover over to Duncannon and checked out the old alignment of 11/15. From there we took 11/15 south to Marysville and checked out a really cool tunnel that comes out at the river front.

I plan to have a full itinerary done in the next 3 weeks, also I will need a full attending count by May 1, so far we are at 13 going per Facebook event page plus who ever is on here but not on FB that plans to go. We are now 2 months out! 

[jpi]

Hi Everyone
I don't think I have Gilligans address on here so here it is-

Gilligans Bar and Grill
987 Eisenhower blvd
Harrisburg, PA 17111

[jpi]

Evening everyone, we are getting closer, about 5 weeks to go! I have the final copy of the itinerary all set complete with maps and the tour route highlighted. So far we are at 15 going on the Facebook event, add in significant others and some people here on AA roads and we may be pushing north of 20, so far as of today. I will need a final count by April 30 so I can let Gilligan's know Restaurant know. Fingers crossed we should have nice weather for this meet, any questions please let me know! 

[Great Lakes Roads]

Me and my dad are attending!

[skatcher]

Me and my dad are attending!

Awesome!! It was fun hanging out with both of you in NOLA!! I'll see y'all in PA 

[jpi]

Hi everyone
I mentioned yesterday I have the itinerary all typed up and one copy printed, based on the projected turn out I plan to have a dozen copies of this, it's about 13 pages, I am going to post a preview here that is the text but not including the map inserts-

We will exit out of Gilligan's parking lot, and make a left on to Eisenhower Blvd. and then make a right on to PA 441, cross over I-283 and then make a left on to Pennhar Dr and proceed to High Pointe Commons shopping center where we will park our vehicles (Between Target and Friendly's restaurant), get in our car pool and head to stop #1
Stop #1
From the Target parking lot we will go right on to High Pointe Blvd. to Chambers Hill Rd, make a right on to Chambers Hill Rd, take this down to Pennhar Dr and make a left, go under US 322 and make a left on to Paxton St. This will take us on to the old alignment of US 322 pre- 1971 when the Eisenhauer interchange was a small cloverleaf. *There is businesses in that area but we should be able to park briefly and check out this old alignment

Stop #2
After stop# 1 we will proceed to stop #2, we will get on to the US 322 expressway going east towards Hershey. We will follow us 322 east through the Chambers Hill Rd\ Grayson Rd Intersection construction (this will simplify the intersection, we will see this more in detail coming back towards Harrisburg) and travel a total of 5 miles to the Hummelstown\ Middletown exit. *We will be crossing one of two at grade railroad crossings on an expressway alignment of 322, both crossings are active, the other crossing is in Lewistown about 60 miles to the northwest. We will get off 322 at this exit and continue straight on to Frontage Rd. We will follow Frontage rd. to the new traffic circle at Waltonville Rd and continue straight on to West End Ave. From West End Ave we will turn left on to the unmarked road that will take us to where we will be taking our group pic, we will park along this road, get out and walk to the front of the "Welcome to Hershey" Billboard and get our group pic.

When we leave stop # 2 we will be driving for a bit until stop #3, we will be mainly driving through and around Hershey offering views of both Hershey Park Amusment Park and the chocolate factories.
A little history on Hershey-
The town was officially founded in 1903 and completed in 1905, to this day Hershey is an "unincorporated village" within Derry Township.  For the company's workers their homes had modern amenities such as electricity, indoor plumbing, and central heating. The town had a public trolley system, a free school to educate the children of employees, a free vocational school to train orphaned and underprivileged boys, and later an amusement park, golf courses, community center, hotel, zoo, and a sports area.[8] The purpose was to provide "a perfect American town in a bucolic natural setting, where healthy, right-living, and well-paid workers lived in safe, happy homes."
In 1905, Milton Hershey began constructing a theme park for his workers which he named "Hershey Park." It officially opened to the public on Memorial Day, May 30, 1906. Located along the banks of Spring Creek, the park was an ideal spot for picnicking, boating, and canoeing, and featured graceful trees and wooded groves. ZooAmerica, formerly the Hershey Zoo, was added to the park in 1910 and housed Milton Hershey's own animals.
Today Hershey has become one of the biggest tourist destinations in Pennsylvania thanks to Hershey Park and some of the other attractions nearby. Giant Center is a major concert venue and home to the Hershey Bears minor league hocky team.
On to Stop #3
As mentioned on the previous page we will be driving through the heart of Hershey and it's by-pass known as Hershey Park Dr. Leaving the billboard site we will get back on to US 322 east towards Hershey, we will then continue east on to US 422 which will take us into downtown Hershey on the infamous Chocolate Avenue, the street is lined with Hershey Kiss shaped street lights, we will cross over Cocoa Ave too (PA 743) we will continue east on US 422 to Lingle Ave which is at the Dauphin\ Lebanon County Line, for those who are county clinching we will get Lebanon County but a block into the county.
We will turn left on to Lingle Ave and head north, across over the Norfolk Southern railroad and turn left on to Hershey Park Dr. We will follow Hershey Park Dr west going past Hershey Park, Giant Center and some of the chocolate factories. Hershey Park Dr is made up of about a mile of PA 743 and 2 miles of PA 39, PA 39 signed east- west is technically signed "wrong way" on Hershey Park Drive. PA 39 starts at the interchange with US 322 and US 422 and end on Front St just north of Harrisburg (we will pass by the Front St end later on the tour) We will pass under the Norfolk Southern rail line and make a right on to Walton Ave and turn into the Bob Evans parking lot. We will park and walk over to an old railroad underpass that was part of the "first generation" of Hershey Park Dr when it was a narrow 2 lane road in the area.

I am open for taking a loop around the block within Palmyra borough so for those who need Lebanon County can clinch it. Also with stop #3 being Bob Evans that makes for a good restroom stop and drink stop but if you all want to stop at the nearby Sheetz after Bob Evans that is fine too 😉
On to stop #4
From Bob Evans we will turn left back on to Walton Ave and turn right back on to PA 39\ Hershey Park Dr, from there we will merge on to US 322 west and head back towards Harrisburg.  When we approach the Chambers Hill Rd\ Grayson Rd  intersection we will turn right on to Grayson Road through the construction area that will include a new traffic circle then turn right on to Milroy Rd. We will follow Milroy Rd north and back under the Norfolk Southern mainline to Derry St. Make a left on to Derry St and follow this to a small parking area across from 41st St near I-83 and US 322. (about 2 miles) Stop #5
After checking out the area around Derry St within the Eisenhower interchange complex we will get back on to Derry St. west, cross over US 322 then make a left on to 40th St.  We will follow 40th St south to Paxton St and make a right, we will travel along Paxton St. which you will notice lots of property acquisition taking place, the future I-83 in this area will "absorb"  Paxton St which will create a new frontage road to the north and lead into a newly re-designed Paxton St interchange. From Paxton St we will make a right to stay on Paxton St and will pull into the Applebees on the left side and park. This is a good vantage point to see the site of the old Harrisburg East Mall and more right of way acquisition for the future I-83 expansion. The only part of the mall left is Bass Pro Shops which is still thriving, the mall itself was a thriving mall for Harrisburg until around the early 2000's when it started going down hill. The new development will include some shops, apartments and a couple restaurant pads As part of all this there will be a new Paxton St. interchange to serve this area, after a few minutes in Applebees parking lot (another restroom option) We will move on to stop #6 which will be the north side of Harrisburg, but first we will observe the massive construction of Section 2. On to stop #6
When we leave Applebees we will turn left back on to Paxton St. We will follow Paxton St for about 3 miles through the south end of Harrisburg running parallel to I-83. We will see lots of construction of 83 from Paxton St but we will proceed with caution, I did not want to make any stops in this area because its not exactly the best part of Harrisburg, we will also see views of downtown from this area too. We will see where 19th St is closed for the new modern overpass being built and go under 83 on Paxton St. We will continue on Paxton to Cameron St. (PA 230) We will make a left on to Cameron St and take this south past what will be the new Cameron St exit which will replace the current 13th st  exit. We will turn left opn to Sycamore St and then left on to 13th st.
From 13th st we will get on to I-83 north and drive through the construction taking place that will transform 83 from a vintage late 50's expressway to a massive and modern 10 lane wide interstate freeway, we will pass through the Eisenhower interchange which will start getting a massive overhaul in the next 3 years and continue north through the already finished and greatly improved I-83 between Union Deposit Rd interchange and I-81. We will then merge on to I-81 south and continue to exit 66 Front St. We will exit at Front St and take Front St North and travel the old alignment of US 22- US 322.
We will follow Front St under the Rockville bridge that carries Norfolk Southern and Amtrack rail lines (there is also some good vantage points to see the bridge and any rail traffic if anyone wants to stop)
Then continue to Ft. Hunter Park which will be stop #6, this offers a nice view of the Susquehanna River, Rockville Bridge and the surrounding area. There is also a covered bridge will check out, this area may be another group photo area especially if we can get a good vantage point of the Rockville Bridge.

The drive through Hershey and south Harrisburg was the first part of this tour. Now begins the second part, a drive up and down the river routes. The river routes are two multiplexed US route sets consisting of US 11/15 (west shore) and US 22/322 (east shore)
To stop #7
After Ft Hunter park we will get on US 22- 322 west and proceed northwest to Newport PA, about 20 miles up the highway, we will pass by Dauphin and a really cool railroad under pass. We will also our version of the statue of liberty built on an old railroad bridge abutment in the middle of the Susquehanna River. This part of US 22-322 was brought up to expressway standards between the years 2000 and 2002. We will also cross the Clarks Ferry Bridge which will take us into our next county (Perry County)
There is a Sheetz along this busy expressway and can be a quick beverage\ restroom stop if need be.  We will then continue past the US 11/15 exit and Amity Hall and meander our way along the Juniata River valley and the surrounding country side. We will continue until we get to the Newport\ New Bloomfield exit (PA 34) exit, from there we will take PS 34 south towards Newport and will check out the Junita River bridge, this is a truss and open grate bridge going over the river and go into downtown Newport.  There is a gas station on the right side of 34 coming out of Newport that we will stop at get pics of the bridge.

On to stop #8
After Newport we will turn right on to Juniata Parkway which is the old alignment of US 22/322 and head back towards Harrisburg, we will merge back on to US 22/322 east and continue to our next stop, you all may have remembered seeing a Rutters on the other side of the highway  when we were heading towards Newport, well, that's our next stop, not just for restroom and beverage\ snacks we will walk over to an old abandoned alignment of US 11/15/22/322. That's right! Prior to the Duncannon by-pass construction of the late 60s all 4 US routes shared the same pavement, US 11/15 crossed over on the current PA 849 Juniata River Bridge which we will take in just minutes.
Stop #9
After Rutters we will get back on US 22/322 east but for a very short distance, we will then turn on to PA 849 and got through the Duncannon "subway" which is a combo of the Juniata River bridge and the Norfolk Southern\ Amtrack railroad underpass. We will continue straight on to Market St through downtown Duncannon, go under the US 11/15 expressway and turn left on to S. Main St (do NOT go straight on PA 274) and follow S. Main to the stub end, this was an old alignment of US 11/15 One unique thing about this area is this is where the Appalachian trail crosses over both Juniata and Susquehanna Rivers, the dotted line on this map is the trail. Stop #10
After the stub end in Duncannon we will go back up towards PA 274 and get on the on ramp for US 11/15 south. We will head south along the west shore of the Susquehanna River through the villages of Cove and Perdix until we get to Marysville borough. The intersection of US 11/15 and PA 850 is home to the only traffic light in all of Perry County and prior to the install of this light about 24 years ago Perry County had the distinction as the only county in all of Pennsylvania with no traffic light (yes it is very rural west of the river) from US 11/15 we will turn right on to Lansville St, go 2 blocks then turn right on to Lincoln St, go another 3 blocks and turn right on to Front St. When we get to the intersection of Front and Verbeke St. we will veer off to the left on to W. Main St and go through the Marysville railroad tunnel which goes under US 11/15 and 4 tracks of the Norfolk Southern\ Amtrak line, the road ends along the river at a small park and we can park and walk through the tunnel. There is very little traffic on this road.

Sorry I know this is a long read, just want to give yall full detail of what we will be seeing, with the stops this should take us about 4 to 5 hours from the time we leave the shopping center parking lot.

[jpi]

Sorry I forgot to mention this, as we are getting closer some of you coming from long distance may not have booked a hotel yet. Keep in mind Hershey is a big resort area and lodging will be through the roof in terms of nighty rates. Harrisburg along with York, Lancaster and Carlisle are all MUCH cheaper for hotel rates. Also if anyone is coming in Friday evening there is a good possiblity of a meet up for dinner in the area. I will get back to everyone on that, I personally am off on Fridays too and Steph will be off in the evening. Now 32 days to go! 

[skatcher]

I got a good rate at the Sleep Inn on Allentown Rd. I just checked and there are still rooms available for around $110-130 a night. They also have handicap accessible rooms available. They have a 4.1 star rating on Google.

[jpi]

I got a good rate at the Sleep Inn on Allentown Rd. I just checked and there are still rooms available for around $110-130 a night. They also have handicap accessible rooms available. They have a 4.1 star rating on Google.

That is actually just up the road from where I work and yes that is a decent hotel option too

[hotdogPi]

I was browsing around the area (seeing if there was any barrier between the road and the amusement park, which there surprisingly isn't) and found US 743

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.2934458,-76.652273,3a,75y,18.12h,87.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sgllyGSqxkxfIcpuT8yLvYA!2e0!5s20231001T000000!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D2.072877770558833%26panoid%3DgllyGSqxkxfIcpuT8yLvYA%26yaw%3D18.121640298186772!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDQxMi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

[74/171FAN]

I was browsing around the area (seeing if there was any barrier between the road and the amusement park, which there surprisingly isn't) and found US 743

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.2934458,-76.652273,3a,75y,18.12h,87.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sgllyGSqxkxfIcpuT8yLvYA!2e0!5s20231001T000000!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D2.072877770558833%26panoid%3DgllyGSqxkxfIcpuT8yLvYA%26yaw%3D18.121640298186772!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDQxMi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

All of the US 743 references have been corrected as of November 2025.

PA 743 NORTH AT HERSHEYPARK DR AND SAND BEACH RD (1) by Mark Moore, on Flickr

[jpi]

Yes that is correct, all US 743 shields have been replaced, infact yall won't see very many sign errors on this tour, sorry 

[jpi]

One last thing I want to mention, Most of you know I have a Kia Sedona mini van, well as of a few weeks ago both my wife and I have Sedona mini vans now, this means both of us will be driving each mini van to help with car pooling, again after lunch we will head over to the shopping center anchored by Target on the other side of I-283 from Gilligan's and we will decide who is driving from there\ park vehicles for the day.

Also some of you have asked about meeting up Friday evening for dinner, yes both Steph and I are open to that, there is a restaurant called Lancaster Brewing Company which is just up Eisenhower from Gilligan's, we can all meet there for dinner\ socialize. I plan on stopping at Gilligan's tomorrow to finalize the day of the meet since we should have our on private area. Just 30 days to go!

[jpi]

Evening everyone, had to make a change to the start time  we will now meet at noon at Gilligans, unfortunately there was a miscommunication between the GM and a shift lead, they open at noon on Saturdays, I do apologize about this, the other nearby restaurants open at noon too and Friendly's by the target opens in the morning but to be honest I don't think they can handle as big of a group that we could have, with gilligans we will be in a private dining room, again sorry everyone. Any questions please let me know

[jpi]

Well everyone we are down to just over 2 weeks left, I am really hoping the weather is going to play in our favor as it has been a little cool the last several weeks and this past Saturday was rather wet, fingers crossed it won't be wet on 5/16, this coming Thursday I will be letting Gilligan's know our final head count, between Facebook, AA roads and people who are not on social media we are at 2 dozen but possibly more, so those of you not on Facebook but on here I just need a yeah or nah, thanks everyone!