Pittsburgh to Knoebel's

I have a trip to Pittsburgh coming up, and was wondering how long the drive is to Knoebel's from there. Two planned trips to this park have fallen through, and I am determined to do it this time.

My plan is to drive out and back in one day, hitting Lakemont in the morning. I'm unfamiliar with this area of Pennsylvania, however, and am wondering if this plan is very realistic.

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I don't like your tone, chris...

A daytrip is possible (I've done it), but long. It's about a 4 hour drive each way.

Adding in a stop at Lakemont will make it VERY long indeed.

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--Greg

http://www.pobox.com/~gregleg/

Greg-

Thanks for the tip. Hope you don't mind me asking, but how fast do you drive? I'm not questioning your time, but the only reference I have is my dad, who drives way below the speed limit. He thought it was about a six hour drive, which I thought was a really high estimate.

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"It starts like a roller coaster ride, so real it takes your breath away..." Rocky Erickson

My typical driving habits are to plug the cruise control right around the speed limit. Sometimes I'll find myself drifting the speed a bit past that, but I don't blatantly speed most of the time.

Door-to-door for me is about 220 miles (I376 E --> US22 E --> US 220 N --> I80 E)

If one could go at highway speeds the entire time, that's a bit over 3 hours. Factor in that some of the trip isn't major highway, and at least one bio break, and there's the 4 hour transit time.

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--Greg

http://www.pobox.com/~gregleg/

Thanks, man. I'm definitely going to do it this time.

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"It starts like a roller coaster ride, so real it takes your breath away..." Rocky Erickson

Not familiar with the Pittsburgh to Elysburg (Knoebels nearest town) run, I will say this... 4 hrs each way (by GregLeg's estimations) equals 8 hrs in the car. You are going to probably want to spend at LEAST 3-4 hrs at Knoebels, so that puts you up to 12. Add into that time for breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner and you are now up to probably 13-14. And then to add Lakemont into it, you will need to add another 2-3 hrs at least and that puts you up around 17 hrs!

That is one heck of a long day!

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"I wasn't always this cynical, but then I started kindergarden..."

Well, the plan is this...

Get to Lakemont at around 11:00 am when they open. Probably spend two or three hours there, and then head to Knoebel's. I'm guessing this would get us to Knoebel's around 3:30 or 4:00. If the park is open until 10:00, that give us six hours to enjoy there. It would be nice to get in more, but we really want to check out Leap the Dips. If we get home around 2:00 or 3:00 am, that is a long day, but I've done far more crazy things in my life. ;) We'll get back to my parents' house in time to get in four or five hours of sleep before we're off to my family reunion at Kennywood.
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"There is another train directly behind this one..." Chicago Transit Authority's Famous Last Words

Sounds like a feasible, if tiring, plan. I've done crazier things myself.

Lakemont is almost exactly the halfway point between Pgh and Knoebels, and the route I use brings you RIGHT by the park. Driving-wise stopping at Lakemont should only cost you about 10 minutes total to get off and back on the highway, and at the halfway point you'd probably want to take a break anyway... :)

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--Greg

http://www.pobox.com/~gregleg/
*** This post was edited by GregLeg on 8/1/2001. ***

Greg-

Your route was the one I had mapped out as well. Who could ask for a nicer pit stop than a couple spins on Leap the Dips? :)

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"There is another train directly behind this one..." Chicago Transit Authority's Famous Last Words

chris said:
"Who could ask for a nicer pit stop than a couple spins on Leap the Dips? :)

Except for having the Skyliner there for a couple spins as well. It's not Leap the Dips, but it is a great little woodie. Well the the extra 10 minutes it'll take to ride.
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So many coasters - so little time.