You have one long weekend left, and Central Pennsylvania saves some of its best events for that time of the year.

Twin Grove RV Resort & Cottages sits on 100+ acres in the hills outside Pine Grove, which puts you within an easy drive of a state park, two of the biggest festivals in the region, America’s oldest brewery, and a theme park closing out its summer season. Three days is enough to do it right. Here is how to spend them.

Start With A Hike

You do not have to go far. Swatara State Park is directly across from the resort entrance. It covers 3,520 acres between Second Mountain and Blue Mountain, with Swatara Creek running the length of it and more than 34 miles of trails. The rail trail is flat, wide, and roughly ten miles, which makes it the rare trail that works for a six year old on a bike and a serious rider on the same afternoon. 

The Appalachian Trail crosses through too, so you can walk a piece of it and be back at the RV resort for lunch. It is free, and it is open every day of the year from sunrise to sunset. 

Two Festivals Worth Building a Day Around

Labor Day weekend is peak festival season here, and two of them are close.

• Schuylkill County Wine Festival, Hegins Park. Sunday, September 6, about twenty minutes away. Now in its 17th year, celebrating wineries from Schuylkill County and the surrounding area.
• Kipona Festival, Harrisburg. September 5 through 7, about forty five minutes away. Three free days along the Susquehanna with a Family Fun Zone, an artist market, live music, a Multicultural Celebration, a giant puppet parade, Dock Dogs, and fireworks Sunday evening.
  
  

Kipona is the bigger production and it is free, which makes it a strong Saturday or Sunday if you have kids and a budget.

Hershey Is Thirty Five Minutes Away

Here is the part worth knowing: Hersheypark’s summer season and The Boardwalk water park are open through Labor Day. That means this weekend is the closing weekend of the season.

Seventy plus attractions, fifteen coasters, an eleven acre water park, and ZooAmerica all on one ticket. If your kids have been asking all summer, this is the last call.

Thirty five minutes each way means you can do a full park day and still sleep at your own site instead of paying holiday hotel rates.

Pottsville and America’s Oldest Brewery

About twenty five minutes northeast, Yuengling has been brewing in Pottsville since 1829 and is still family owned. The tour is free and runs about an hour, through the original brewhouse and down into the hand-dug caves where beer was aged before refrigeration existed. There are samples at the end and root beer for anyone under 21.

Two things to plan around. The brewery is typically closed Sundays and major holidays including Labor Day, so aim for Friday or Saturday and confirm hours before you drive over. And the tour includes roughly 150 stairs with closed-toe shoes required, so it is not the right call for strollers or anyone who needs step-free access.

When Nobody Feels Like Driving

Some of the best days here never leave the property, and Twin Grove is built for exactly that.

Two pools and two waterslides. A full-size Ferris wheel and a carousel. Mini golf, sport courts, and a disc golf course that guests keep calling one of the best in the area. An indoor movie theater and an arcade for the afternoon the weather turns. An ice cream parlor. An on-site restaurant so nobody has to cook. Three dog parks. Live music at the amphitheater.

Pick one big outing for the weekend, and let the rest of it happen right here. A slow morning by the pool beats a rushed drive to a second attraction an hour away. You can see the full list on the resort’s Things to Do page.

Make Twin Grove Your Labor Day Home Base

A state park across the street. Hershey half an hour out. Two festivals, a brewery older than most of the country, and enough on the property that you could skip all of it and still have a full weekend.