Camping At Hersheypark: Our Favorites In And Around Hershey

We have camped at the Hersheypark Camping Resort a few times now, and we love it. We find the campground both fun and relaxing. The park entertains all of us. We appreciate the convenience of the location. When we choose a vacation spot, we always research what is nearby to do other than the most obvious things. While we know we are going to go to the park at least a couple days, we also know we’re going to explore the area as well. We tend to push the envelope of what we include in the definition of “nearby” and are not afraid to go off the beaten path to find our adventures. Having said that, we also love amusement parks, so our main objective is to fit in a lot of park time as well. Here are our family’s favorites at Hersheypark and beyond: 

• Favorite “Nearby” Day Trip: Gettysburg National Military Park.  It is right at an hour drive from the Hersheypark Camping Resort to the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center. The Museum and Visitor Center is absolutely fantastic. It is interactive and incredibly educational. They have a Junior Ranger program for kids to help to keep them engaged as well. The cyclorama is incredibly interesting, especially understanding that the huge paintings used to create it were painted in 1883. The New Birth of Freedom movie, narrated by Morgan Freeman, is powerful and helps you truly get a sense of what happened on the battlefield before you head out to see them in person. We typically only spend an hour or less in a park’s visitor center, but we spent over 3 hours here! For the tour of the battlefields, we purchased an audio tour for $10, which I highly recommend, because the size of Gettysburg, the varying locations of the battles, and the sheer number of monuments and placards can be overwhelming. We spent another three hours driving through the battlegrounds, exploring several of the stops, and walking around the National Cemetery. This park is as beautiful as it is eerie. There is something unnerving about standing in the very fields and hillsides that claimed the lives of over 50,000 people and changed the lives of many more. Gettysburg is definitely worth the drive from Hershey. We will go back again the next time we visit Hershey. The town of Gettysburg is full of historical buildings, adorable boutiques, and restaurants we would like to try. We hadn’t expected to spend over six hours just at the National Battlefield, so we, unfortunately, did not have time to explore the town. But this gives us plenty to explore the next time we visit. 

• Favorite “Push the Envelope” Day Trip: Washington, D.C. Google Maps said the commute from the campground to the National Mall parking lot was about two hours and fifteen minutes. However, with traffic, it ended up being closer to two hours and forty-five minutes. We knew we were going to be limited in what we could accomplish in a day, but being as “close” as we were, we wanted to at least introduce the girls to our nation’s capital. The National Mall parking lot was perfectly situated for what we wanted to accomplish. We were able to walk quickly to the National Mall, stopping to enjoy the Washington Monument. Over the next several hours and over 8.5 miles, we were able to visit the Natural History and American History museums as well as the National Gallery of Art – Sculpture Garden in the Smithsonian. We also visited the WWII memorial, Vietnam War memorial, Lincoln memorial, Korean War memorial, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial. And we were able to see (from a distance) the White House, Capitol Building and the Thomas Jefferson memorial. We wanted to visit the National Archives, but the line to get in without an advance ticket was around the block. We obviously did not even scratch the surface of D.C., but it was an amazing, although abbreviated, tour of the capitol. The girls immediately began asking when we could go back and see more of it. For more details of our adventure to D.C., click here.

• Favorite Restaurant: The Chocolatier. One of Hersheypark’s sit down restaurants, you can actually eat here without needing to enter the park. You can access it by entering the Hersheypark Supply Co. building and either taking the stairs or elevator to the second floor. This is an incredibly popular restaurant, so we highly recommend reservations . The theming is fantastic with various sections inspired by park rides. We sat in the “Comet” section, with our bench seats even equipped with seat belts. I read about the Ferris Wheel sampler, so we decided we had to order it. They serve this appetizer sampler on a miniature ferris wheel. The wheel comes with chocolate barbeque chicken wings, crispy fried mozzarella, chicken tenders, soft pretzel dippers, and buffalo chicken dip. The kids thought it was super fun. If I’m being completely honest, it was a bit overpriced for what you got (any my husband was somewhat annoyed that it the “wheel” did not actually spin) and we probably wouldn’t order it again, but we still really enjoyed it. We ordered a variety of entrees, from chicken to pulled pork to a cocoa Cuban. It was a LOT of food, and everyone really enjoyed what they ordered. That is no small feat with a family of 6! For dessert, we ordered the Pinwheel cake and the Chocolatier Cake, and both were delicious. It was not an inexpensive dinner. Who am I kidding? With six of us, even eating at McDonald’s is not an inexpensive meal anymore! But it was a fun experience, the food was good, the desserts were amazing, and the atmosphere is fantastic. We will definitely eat here again on a future trip. 

• Favorite Treat: Rita’s Italian Ice. We discovered Rita’s Italian Ice at Hersheypark a few years ago. There is not one in our area, and, honestly, we had no idea that it existed until then. We fell in love with the Swedish Fish Italian Ice. We now look for Rita’s any time we travel, and if there is one nearby, we make it a point to stop. It has become a fun family travel tradition. So, for us, enjoying a Rita’s Italian Ice when we’re at Hersheypark is a must do! I prefer the frozen custard, but the rest of the family is firmly encamped in Team Italian Ice. Our nine-year-old loves getting the flights, because she can never decide on a single flavor. My thirteen-year-old loves the custard and the Italian ice, so she typically goes for the gelati. The rest of the crew like to shake it up and try various flavors of the Italian ice. We never tire of Rita’s!

• Favorite Park Attraction: Reese’s Cupfusion. This is our family’s FAVORITE ride at Hersheypark. With the ages of our kids ranging from 4 to 15, it can be difficult at amusement parks to find rides we can all together. Reese’s Cupfusion fits the bill. It has a really cute storyline where you become an agent to protect the Reese Cup factory and the Crystal Cup from the League of Misfit Candies. It’s an interactive ride where you can shoot at targets to earn points. Our family is incredibly competitive, including the four-year-old, so we take this ride very seriously!! There is even a Hall of Fame board that is displayed outside the ride that tracks the high scores for the day. It is each of our goal to get one and stay on that board every time we ride! The line for Cupfusion can get incredibly long, and it does seem to break down quite a bit. We try to get in line for this one as soon as it opens to avoid the long lines. This is one of those rides that is enjoyed as much by our 4-year-old as it is by the teenagers as well as me and my husband. 

There is so much to do when in Hershey, Pennsylvania. You don’t have to limit yourself to all things Hershey (although the Hershey things are pretty spectacular). We had a blast exploring outside the Hershey bubble. What about you – do you prefer to stay in the bubble or venture outside of it? Let us know in the comments. For more adventures from G6 Adventures, click here.