Bedford County Destinations

Bedford County Fair
The Bedford County Fair will be held annually. Usually on the last week of July at the Bedford County Fairgrounds. Admission fee. Grandstand shows, rides, motorsports, bull riding, petting zoo, food stands and livestock entries. For more information, call 623-9011 or visit the website at: www.bedford-fair.com.

Bedford Speedway
Friday night stock car racing on the 5/8th mile dirt track at the Bedford County Fairgrounds just west of Bedford on business Rt 30. Weekly Friday night racing starts in mid April and ends in September with Super Late Model, Limited’s, Street Stocks & Hobby divisions. Special events and holiday shows for the Pa Sprint Car Speedweek Series, Mid Atlantic Championship Series Late Models, World of Outlaw Late Models and All Star Circuit of Champion Sprint Cars. Known as one of the oldest operating speedways in the country, Bedford’s first event was during the Great Bedford Fair of 1936. Promoted by DKM Racing Promotions, J.R. Keifer, Jim Maybury. For more information call 814-623-0500. F or complete schedule, ticket pricing, driver profiles, current and past history, photos and general information log on to: www.bedfordspeedway.com.

Blue Knob State Park
Blue Knob State Park is located in the Northwestern tip of Bedford County. Altoona, Johnstown and Bedford are within 25 miles of the park. The park attracts many people that enjoy a variety of recreational activities throughout the year. For more information call (814) 276-3576, e-mail: blueknobsp@state.pa.us or visit the website at: www.dcnr.state.pa.us.

Covered Bridges
Bedford County has 13 covered bridges at present. The Ryot Bridge burned in 2002 and plans are to rebuild it. The remaining ones are:

For more information on the covered bridges, call the Visitor's Bureau at 1-800-765-3331 or visit the website at: www.bedfordcounty.net/bridges.

Cox Monument
A stone monument stands in the town of Pavia and located in Blue Knob State Park, Bedford County. The event that it represents is still a mystery today. In April of 1856, two young boys, George Cox, 7 years old and his brother Joseph Cox, 5 years old, vanished. They had wandered off into the woods near their home and never returned. A farmer that lived nearby, Jacob Dibert, had a dream that he had found the boys and they were dead. He told his dream to a friend, they searched the area and did find the boys had died from exposure. The boys were buried in Mt. Union Cemetery on May 8, 1856. In 1906, on the 50th anniversary of the tragedy, the stone monument was erected in the area where the boys were found so the event would never be forgotten. For more information on this monument and the story behind it all, you may visit the website: www.ghostrus.com (Ghost Research Foundation) or search for "Cox monument" or visit an article on the web site and you will find several websites locations and related stories.

Fort Bedford Museum
Located in historic downtown Bedford. Thousands of travelers stopping in Bedford have enjoyed visiting historic and educational Fort Bedford Museum. The block-house structure houses a large scale model of the original fort and depicts Forbes Road and the surrounding area. Fort Bedford Museum displays Native American artifacts collected from the region. Thousands of household items dating back 100 to more than 200 years ago---from flintlock rifles to early clothing to antique hand tools---help to recreate the atmosphere of pioneer days on the frontier of western Pennsylvania. The museum is open daily from 10 AM until 5 PM May through October, except on Tuesdays in May, September and October. Admission fee. Group rates. Gift shop. For more information, visit the website at: www.bedfordcounty.net/attract/fort.

Keystone Foundry Museum
The Keystone Foundry Museum is a non-profit site owned and operated by the Hopewell Senior Center. The Keystone Foundry Museum is located in Hopewell, Bedford County, Pennsylvania. In an area once containing an abundance of blast furnaces, foundries, and other iron industry sites, this old complex is a lone survivor. The Foundry today is just the way workers left it one day in 1935, never to return again. Originally the Foundry opened in 1857, as a repair shop for the Huntingdon and Broad Top Mountain Railroad. The Foundry and Machine Works produced mine cars, tools and equipment, stoves and numerous cast iron and brass objects for the coal mining industry in Bedford, Fulton and Huntingdon counties.

HOURS OF OPERATION: June - September, Saturday & Sunday 1 to 4PM. For groups and/or special arrangements please call (814) 928-5111 or 928-5322. Directions: Follow State Route 26 north to the Hopewell Bridge and continue on Route 915 for .6 of a mile to Fulton Street. A sign on the right points to the Foundry, easily visible on the left.

Mid-State Hiking Trail
This remote Mid State Trail walk includes, according to the MST Guidebook, "the hardest part of the entire trail to locate and build", knife edge ridge tops, "tough but extraordinarily scenic views", "Hewitt Covered Bridge (1879), oldest structure on MST", and "Martin Hill itself, the highest point on the entire Mid State Trail." This south part of Pennsylvania's longest and wildest hiking trail is 28% of the total distance from Maryland starting through Bedford County, PA to New York. Of the south region, total 143 km (88.5 miles), about 2% is on roads through the refresh/re-supply towns of Everett and Williamsburg. Another 20% is on rural paved roads and there are attractive connective possibilities with other trails.

Mid State Trail is Pennsylvania's best example of the kind of wild unique hiking trail which attracts backpackers and hikers from Pennsylvania and out-of-state knowing ATV's, Equestrians and bikers respect the design; and use other fine trails designed and approved for their activities. Every trail section has an active overseer and the trail is becoming well known to dayhikers, backpackers, deer, bears, snakes and hunters. The friendly attitude of people and businesses along the trail make the hiking experience enjoyable and the Pennsylvania Forestry and Game Lands managers have been most cooperative.

Mid State Trail South is one of the four regions of the entire 510 km Mid State Hiking Trail System and extends from the Maryland-Pennsylvania State Line (Green Ridge Hiking Trail-Mason Dixon Line) to Rt. 22 near Waterstreet, PA. The MSTA can be reached at PO Box 167, Boalsburg, PA 16827 or e-mail: kelliher@bluebird.goucher.edu.

You can also visit the other Mid State Trail, which is from the Maryland border to US 22, Bedford, Blair, southwestern Huntingdon counties: Everett Region , Debra Dunkle, 814-652-2227

Pioneer Historical Society
The Pioneer Historical Society of Bedford County, Inc. houses the county's most extensive collection of historical and genealogical materials. The Pioneer Library, open six days a week, has both paid staff and volunteers working to help library patrons research family history, local and regional history and state history. The society also operates a genealogical search service for those who wish to have a family line researched for them for a fee. If you wish to contact them, their mailing address is: Pioneer Historical Society of Bedford County, Inc. 6441 Lincoln Highway, Bedford, PA 15522. Phone: (814) 623-2011

Raystown Branch Juniata River Water Trail
Enjoy boating, primitive camping, fishing, wildlife-watching and other activities on this water trail.

The Raystown Branch is the Juniata River's longest and largest tributary. It is classified as a high-quality river. Wildlife is abundant and fish such as trout, smallmouth bass, muskellunge and panfish provide a variety of angling opportunities. Flowing easterly from its headwaters on the Allegheny Front in Somerset County, it drains almost 1,000 square miles of southcentral Pennsylvania and covers a distance of 118 miles before it joins the main stem of the Juniata River at Huntingdon.

It's name is rooted in local history. "Juniata" is an Indian word meaning "standing stone," and "Raystown" derives from Robert MacRay, a settler who established a traiding post in 1750 at present-day Bedford.

The Bedford County portion of the trail, which includes the best canoeing waters in the westernmost section of the Branch, begins in the historic Bedford area and runs 55 tangled miles to Saxton, the county's northernmost settlement. Saxton was chosen as the eastern terminus for the trail because it marks the point where powerboats begin to use the river as it forms Raystown Lake. Boating on the river between the headwaters and Saxton is almost exclusively reserved for canoes, kayaks and rowboats. Motor use is limited to deep pool areas and high-water conditions. Boats with motors of any type must be registered.

View the map of Juniata River Water Trail - Raystown Branch.

Raystown Lake
Raystown Lake is known as Pennsylvania's best kept secret. The lake covers 8,000 acres and has picnic areas, boat launches, campgrounds, trails, fishing, hunting and many more things to do. For more details on everything available, visit their website at: http://www.raystownresort.com.

Reynoldsdale Fish Hatchery
The Reynoldsdale Fish Hatchery is open from 8:00 AM till 3:30 PM daily.

Information and map location

Shawnee State Park
Shawnee State Park is located 10 miles west of historic Bedford on Rt. 30. Shawnee has fine recreational facilities that are convenient and fit into the natural environment. One of the main focuses of the park is the 451 acre Shawnee Lake. For more information, contact the park office at (814) 733-4218, e-mail: shawneesp@state.pa.us or visit online at: www.dcnr.state.pa.us.