Mark Llobrera

Jim Thorpe, September 2025

Published in #family, #photos, #travel

A quick trip to Jim Thorpe, the self-described “Switzerland of America”. It’s…not that, for sure, but it was fun to finally ride the rails with the kids along the Lehigh River Gorge. We were familiar with the town from past Girl Scout camps at nearby Camp Mosey Wood.

A train car named “Queen of the Valley”.
Two young women smile aboard a train car.
Part of the Lehigh River snaking between two green hills.

The train ride with the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway1 is a leisurely round trip, and we were a bit too early to catch fall foliage, but it still ended up being a lot of fun.

The front cars of a train curl around a sign saying “Watch for black bears”.
A bird flies in front of a stark white contrail.

After the train we stayed a few more hours in the town, grabbing lunch and stopping in some of our favorite shops.

A pair of brighly painted doors.
An old building with multiple turrets.
Vintage cars.
A puffy cloud in a clear blue sky hovers over the Mauch Chunk Opera House.
A painted sign on shop glass for Pose Mortem Portrait Parlor, “An Old-Time Clickery”.

More photos on Flickr.

  1. Jordan and I had ridden the train a couple of years ago, but this was the first time the kids got to experience it. ↩︎