Over four years ago on these pages I chronicled the end of our family’s exploits driving U.S. Route 322 south of State College to support our son’s athletic interests during his youth and high school years. Then four weeks ago I wrote about our son’s graduation from college and our relief that our educational experiment had worked.
What I didn’t mention was that because our son continued his athletic endeavors in college, all we did was trade those years driving south for years of driving north.
For the last few years we’ve “become one” with the roads that lead from State College to Buffalo. But, unlike our drives on U.S. 322, which both my wife and I had been very familiar with from our own life experiences, the road to Buffalo was mostly unknown to us. During our lifetimes we had been in Buffalo a grand total of three times before our son decided to go there to further his young academic and athletic career.
The direct route from our home to the University at Buffalo is 202 miles and takes just under four hours to drive. I quickly learned that the downside to that route – for those of us who have become accustomed to driving limited access highways at good speeds – is that it primarily consists of two-lane roads. My wife, on the other hand, loved the “back roads.”
Of the 202-mile journey, 128 of those miles are on two-lane roads. Two-lane roads that are home to plenty of 18-wheelers, mining trucks, buses and local drivers, as well as some rather steep hills where those trucks can often reach an amazing speed of 10 mph when climbing! Not to mention several small towns with 25-mph speed limits. Which is why you average a miserly 50 mph for those 202 miles.
Given those circumstances, you would think there must be a way to get to Buffalo on highways. There is, but the quickest alternate route that follows mostly interstate highways increases travel time by a half-hour and adds almost 70 miles to the trip. Meaning over time I learned to cool my proverbial jets, dialed back my need for speed and let it go. I accepted whatever the road had in store for us.
The amazing upside to this change of pace in traveling was that we started noticing the many and varied sights, things-to-do and opportunities there were to explore along the way. And we began stopping at these places and enjoying the trip rather than just focusing on the destination.
The first interesting place on the journey northward is right before you connect with I-80. At the intersection in Woodland you’ll pass Gio’s BBQ — a great place for some fabulous pulled pork, ribs, chicken and, if you’re into It, fried catfish. Our stops here though have always been on the return trip so we can buy extra to savor at home later.
The first interesting sight on the journey northward is after you connect with I-80 you will climb to an elevation of 2,250 feet and reach the highest point on I-80 east of the Mississippi River. There is a large sign denoting the spot, but although you won’t want to stop along the highway, it is one of those places you can now say you’ve been.
After exiting I-80 you’ll pass two state parks in the next few miles. S.B. Elliot State Park is a very basic campground – although it does have public restrooms if the need calls. Parker Dam State Park is a few miles off the main road and is a more full-featured state park in the Whipple Dam/Greenwood Furnace/Poe Valley mode. You can also hike through sections that are still growing back after a tornado decimated the park in 1985.
As you travel north on SR 153, the shortest route is to continue until you reach U.S. 219 and head north. But if you are a beer fan, you can take a small detour into St. Marys and visit the Straub Brewery. Making beer since 1872, Straub is one of the oldest family-owned and operated breweries in the U.S. They make German-American style lagers and craft beers, and are home to the “Eternal Tap” – their tradition of offering visitors a couple beers on the house.
If you do continue on to U.S. 219, you’ll then travel through the quintessential Pennsylvania manufacturing towns of Ridgway, Johnsonburg and Wilcox. The Old Brickyard in Johnsonburg has one of my favorite neon signs: “Ice Cream Solves Everything” (They’re right, you know). In Wilcox you can stop and sample wines from The Winery at Wilcox. Opened in 1994, the winery was recognized as the largest wine producer in Pennsylvania in 2018.
The next stop on our journey north was always at Lantz Corners – where there are both a Sheetz and a Nittany Minit Mart. This coincidentally is almost exactly at the halfway point of the trip – both in distance and in time – so it is a perfect break-up for the drive. Just don’t buy gas here – we have a better spot a little further north!
A quick 8-mile detour east from Lantz Corners gets you to the awe-inspiring Kinzua Bridge State Park. In 2003 a tornado destroyed half of the Kinzua Viaduct railroad bridge over the Kinzua Gorge. Once the longest and tallest railroad structure in the country at 2,053 feet long and 301 feet high, the Viaduct was reinvented as a pedestrian walkway. You walk 600 feet out on the remaining support towers to the glass platform at the end of the walkway and can see for miles into the Kinzua Gorge. In addition, the Visitor Center and Pennsylvania Wilds Conservation Shop are top-notch. And the Mount Jewett to Kinzua Bridge Trail was named Pennsylvania’s 2023 Trail of the Year by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR).
Back on U.S. 219, 5 miles up the road is another local detour – this time a 3-mile drive down the valley to the Westline Trailhead of the Kinzua Valley Trail. The trail is a first-class hiking opportunity through the beautiful Kinzua Valley. This is also home to the Westline Inn, a rustic lodge, restaurant and bar that serves wonderful food with great service and scores a 4.8 out of 5 on 335 Google reviews. That’s quality.
Just before crossing the border into New York you drive through the town of Bradford – where you get 5 miles of limited-access highway! Bradford is best known as the home of Zippo lighters. Manufactured in Bradford since the 1930s, each Zippo lighter carries the now famous unconditional lifetime guarantee –”It works or we fix it free.™” The Zippo/Case Museum next to the manufacturing plant is a great way to spend a few minutes looking over the history of this iconic brand which has been labeled “The Greatest Supporting Actor of All Time,” because Zippo lighters have appeared in so many Hollywood films over the years. We now have three Zippo lighters in our family.
If you decide you want to spend a few nights in the Bradford area, there’s an exclusive place nestled 6 miles back in the valley to the west of Bradford – The Lodge at Glendorn, a luxury nature resort in the style of grand family camps of the 1900s. The Lodge at Glendorn is an opulent private getaway that belongs to Relais & Châteaux, an association of individually owned and operated hotels and restaurants. There are only 580 such luxury hotels and restaurants around the world, and there’s only one property in Pennsylvania: Glendorn. In 2016 Travel + Leisure named it the No. 1 resort hotel in the continental U.S.
As you cross into New York you will soon find yourself on the Allegany Territory of the Seneca Nation of Indians. If you need gas, this is the place to buy it as it’s usually 50 cents cheaper than anywhere else along this trip. And if you smoke cigarettes – I’m not promoting it – you can also buy those much cheaper here.
The last place of interest along this trip is a few miles north in the town of Ellicottville, home to the Holiday Valley Resort with skiing in the winter and golf in the summer. There’s also a quaint little downtown area with a number of restaurants, bars, cafes and shops, including, for those of you with a sweet tooth, Watson’s Chocolates, which has been hand-crafting delicious chocolate since 1946.
A few miles after Ellicottville you are back on a four-lane limited-access highway for the rest of your trip to Buffalo, where there are a number of other sights, things-to-do and opportunities. Such as Niagara Falls, two Great Lakes, easy access (again) to Canada, plenty of great places to eat – especially properly done beef on weck – and my favorite liquor store not in Manhattan, Premier Wine & Spirits, which is essentially a Walmart for wine and liquor.
So, if your travel plans require you to head to the home of the Buffalo Bills – and Bulls – take it from the newest experts on those rural roads: give yourself some extra time and spend it on the many interesting sights, things-to-do, and opportunities along the way!
