hiawatha paddlewheel riverboat photos

Spend A Perfect Day On This Old-Fashioned Paddle Boat Cruise In Pennsylvania

Hiawatha Paddlewheel Riverboat offers a variety of themed cruises along the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania.

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Everything is more fun on the water, wouldn't you say? Dinner. Karaoke. An ice cream social. Or even just watching the scenery roll by. Fortunately, Pennsylvania's waterways are brimming with cruising opportunities. Like this old-fashioned paddled boat cruise in Pennsylvania that offers a variety of cruises for visitors of all ages. So now the question becomes: Which cruise will you start with?

Hiawatha Paddlewheel Riverboat takes visitors on a quaint journey along the Susquehanna River. Choose from a number of family-friendly or adults-only cruises.

So, which will you choose? Looking for a fun family adventure? Then, climb aboard the paddlewheel riverboat for one of its regularly scheduled public cruises.

Public cruises, featuring a historical narration of the area, typically last an hour.

Bring the whole family along for Tuesday night's Family Night Cruise. The evening features a lively ice cream social with a buffet of toppings and and a magician.

Or, perhaps you prefer dining on the water? Opt for the brunch cruise, the dinner cruise, or plan both. The 1.5 hour brunch cruises, for example, offer a generous buffet of fruits, salads, French toast, and more.

Dinner cruises are held once a month from May through October. Each month features meals served by a popular local restaurant.

Of course, sometimes you've just gotta have wings. Plan a visit on one of the scheduled Wing Nights. Feast on wings topped with five specialty sauces.

Wing Night is the Hiawatha Paddlewheel Riverboat's most popular cruise, so be sure to make reservations ahead of time.

Need to kick back and relax for a few hours? Sail aboard the Haiwatha's National Wine Day cruise on May 25, 2018. Or, join one of the summer's Karaoke Cruises.

That's just a sampling of the fun you can have aboard the Hiawatha Paddlewheel Riverboat. Before or after your cruise, stop by the Hiawatha House for drinks and snacks.

The Haiwatha Paddlewheel Riverboat cruising season runs kicks off on May 5, 2018 and runs through late October.

Hiawatha Paddlewheel Riverboat

2205 Hiawatha Boulevard

Williamsport, PA 17701

570-326-2500

Click here for more information.

Hiawatha Paddlewheel Riverboat, a paddle boat cruise in Pennsylvania, promises an old-fashioned experience. Looking for something a little more, well, heart stopping? Then, you might want to board this Pirate-themed cruise .

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Go on an Autumn Adventure, Surrounded by Fall’s Fiery Colors, With Pennsylvania Rail Bike

Pedal along a predominately flat path and to a pumpkin patch on this rail biking tour in Hawley, Pennsylvania.

As much as I love the sun and longer days of summer, the heat usually keeps me huddled up inside with the A/C, counting down the days until I can open the windows and let the fresh, cool breeze in. When fall finally arrives, I spend as much time as I can outside and am always on the lookout for a unique leaf-peeping adventure – like this rail biking tour in Hawley, Pennsylvania that promises a fun and relaxing way to admire the brilliant fall colors.

We’ve all likely climbed aboard an old-fashioned hayride to the pumpkin patch, but have you ever pedaled a rail bike to pick pumpkins on a crisp autumn day? That’s just what Pennsylvania Rail Bike offers with its Peddlin’ & Pumpkin Pickin’ tour, a fall favorite for adventurers of all ages. Electric rail bikes make peddling easy, and you can choose between a two-seater or a four-seater. Even little ones, as long as they’re accompanied by someone 16 or older, can join in the fun. (A rider must be 16 or older to operate the brakes.)

A two-hour ride along a predominately flat path, the pumpkin patch tour is offered on weekends in October. The 10-mile tour promises sensational views of the fall foliage as you pass the Lackawaxen River and arrive at Myles Pumpkin Patch, a private pumpkin patch, where you can snap photos and pick your favorite pumpkins.

Don’t worry if you can’t make it on one of the Peddlin’ & Pumpkin Pickin’ tours. Pennsylvania Rail Bike offers regular tours on weekdays and weekends through early November. Tours leave from the Hawley Train Station and meander past the darling small town of Hawley and Brookfield Hydroelectric Power Plant. Keep an eye out for local wildlife, too, including bald eagles.

To ensure a fun and safe experience, make sure you dress for the weather, and pack water, snacks, sunscreen, and your camera. Closed-toed shoes, like tennis shoes , are required. If you’re like me and wear flip-flops even in the fall, you’ll have to leave them at home (or in the car).

Find more information and book your autumn adventure on the official website of Pennsylvania Rail Bike , or stop by the Facebook page of PA Rail Bike .

Have you gone rail biking with Pennsylvania Rail Bike? What did you think? Let us know in the comments! All that fresh air has probably got you pretty hungry. Pull up a chair, and dig into a delicious meal at Gresham’s Chop Shop, a waterfront restaurant in Hawley, Pennsylvania .

The Top Leaf-Peeping Destination in the U.S. Is Right Here in Pennsylvania

See for yourself why Bucks County has the best fall foliage in the United States.

When we think of the best leaf-peeping destinations in the country, our thoughts probably turn to the winding country roads, endless forests, and sweeping mountain ranges of New England. While some of the most breathtaking fall foliage I’ve ever seen was while living in Vermont and Connecticut, I’m often left in awe at the colorful autumn landscapes in Pennsylvania. So it comes as little surprise that the top leaf-peeping destination in the U.S. is in Pennsylvania .

Bucks County snagged the top spot of the best leaf-peeping destinations in the United States in 2024 in a list that saw North Lake Tahoe in California and Nevada; Bretton Woods, New Hampshire; Albany, New York, and Payette River Scenic Byway in Idaho round out the top five. Stowe, Vermont, the only New England state to get a nod for its fall foliage this year, came in at number six.

Whether you’re looking for family-friendly fun or kid-free time, you’ll find a full menu of activities and events in the county that sits around 30 miles from Philadelphia and 75 miles from New York City, making it a convenient day trip or weekend getaway.

For a quintessential autumn experience, head to one of the charming Main Streets in Bucks County, including those in Bristol, Doylestown, Newtown, and Yardley. New Hope is an idyllic fall destination, with a downtown brimming with shops and restaurants and a bridge that will take you over the Delaware River to Lambertville, New Jersey. Climb aboard one of the fall foliage train rides with the New Hope Railroad, or explore the shops at Peddler’s Village, which hosts events, including a scarecrow festival and scarecrow-making workshops, throughout the season.

Autumn and scenic strolls go hand-in-hand, and Bucks County has no shortage of parks for a leisurely walk. Bring your hammer to tap the rocks (and admire the fall foliage) at Ringing Rocks Park in Upper Black Eddy; meander along a pretty path at Silver Lake Nature Center in Bristol, or enjoy a picnic, surrounded by the autumn colors, at Core Creek Park (pictured above), the latter of which has a playground and trails.

Start planning your leaf-peeping adventures by visiting the official website of Visit Bucks County , or stop by the Facebook page of Visit Bucks County, PA .

Where is your favorite place to go leaf-peeping in Pennsylvania? Have you been to Bucks County during the peak of the fall foliage? Let us know in the comments! You might want to spend the night or a weekend; book a stay at a local Vrbo. The fun doesn’t stop with a little leaf peeping. Start packing your calendar with some of the best fall activities in Pennsylvania .

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This Charming Pumpkin Patch in Rhode Island Is a Must-Visit Day Trip This Fall

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The Small Town In New York That Will Make You Feel Like a Character in “The Facts Of Life”

For fans of the classic sitcom "The Facts of Life", there are so many great things to do in Peekskill, New York where it all began.

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Cruising the Susquehanna River on Williamsport’s Hiawatha Riverboat

There’s little that’s better than cruising along a major waterway, the wind blowing through your hair, as you look at the beauty surrounding you. However, unless you have your own boat or want to go through the expense of renting one, it can often be difficult to experience a destination from the water.

Fortunately, there are several great public boat cruises in the state, including Williamsport’s Hiawatha Riverboat.

The Hiawatha boat departs from the banks of the Susquehanna from Susquehanna State Park. The park occupies a small spit of land in the southwestern corner of the city and features little more than a parking lot, pavilion, and boat launch to ride the Hiawatha. 

The Hiawatha Riverboat has been cruising on the Susquehanna River in Williamsport since 1991. It was named after another paddlewheel riverboat that was destroyed during the spring ice thaw in 1914. That boat was named after an Iroquois Indian chief named Hiawatha who was instrumental in bringing together the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy and lived in Pre-Columbian America.

The Hiawatha runs a variety of cruises, and I had the chance to ride one of their sightseeing cruises thanks to a ticket supplied to me by the boat. The hour-long cruise departs several times a day on cruise days (see below).

Boarding starts about 10 minutes before the cruise leaves. However, getting there earlier is recommended, especially if you want to get your choice of seats. While I looked at both the enclosed bottom deck and the open-air top deck, I opted for a seat on the bow of the boat.

As the boat pushed away from the dock, I have to be honest that I was a bit surprised. Instead of heading east towards downtown Williamsport, we turned upstream and headed west.

I had assumed that the trip would be traveling through the city, as the Pride of the Susquehanna in Harrisburg and the Gateway Clipper in Pittsburgh do. However, any disappointment I had quickly vanished as we made our way along a very beautiful part of the Susquehanna River.

As we rode, jet skis, speedboats, and even water skiers flew past our slow-moving riverboat. Despite the slow speed, the pace that we traveled was perfect for an enjoyable ride on a beautiful day. Seeing the Susquehanna River in a way that few visitors to the area experience was quite special.

Shortly after leaving the dock, a narration came over the loudspeaker. While it covers a few other topics of local history, it focuses mostly on the area’s rich lumber history, and the important role that the Susquehanna River played. The narration lasts for about a third of the trip, with music being played for the remainder of the trip.

Whether you are interested in the history or not, riding Williamsport’s Hiawatha Riverboat along the Susquehanna offers a great chance to see the beauty of the river. I doubt there’s a more relaxing way to see the region than on the Hiawatha.

Cruising on the Hiawatha Riverboat

The Hiawatha Riverboat runs from May through October. In May, September, and October, the boat runs sightseeing cruises on weekends only. During June, July, and August, the boat runs Tuesday through Sunday. Hour-long sightseeing cruises run three to four times a day, depending on the day of the week and the month.

The Hiawatha Riverboat also runs a variety of special cruises, including Family Nights, Wing Nights, and Concert Cruises. The full schedule for those special cruises can be found on their website .

The Hiawatha offers an onboard snack bar that sells simple food, non-alcoholic drinks, draft beer, and even some cocktails, all at surprisingly reasonable prices.

Note: My rides on the Hiawatha Riverboat was hosted by the boat. However, the opinions expressed are my own.

Looking for more things to do in Williamsport, PA ? Reptiland  is nearby in Allenwood, PA. Fan of museums? Also nearby is the World of Little League Museum , the   Taber Museum , and the story of the Fair Play Men .

See map below for other area attractions.

Great places to stay in williamsport.

• Hampton Inn - Rated one of the best values in Williamsport on Trip Advisor.
• Genetti HOtel - A historic hotel in downtown Williamsport.
• Residence Inn - A great value located minutes from local attractions.
• City Hall Grand Hotel - A historic city landmark in the heart of downtown Williamsport.
• Find more great places to stay on Airbnb!

More nearby places worth exploring

Visiting the Covered Bridges of Juniata County, Pennsylvania

Exploring the Abandoned Alvira Bunkers from World War 2

Visiting Logan Mills Covered Bridge in Clinton County, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Waterfalls: The Waterfalls of Rock Run in PA’s McIntyre Wild Area

Find more things to do in the susquehanna region.

Jim Cheney is the creator of UncoveringPA.com. Based in Carlisle near Harrisburg, Jim frequently travels around Pennsylvania and has visited, written about, and photographed all 67 counties in the state. He has also traveled to more than 30 different countries around the world.

6 thoughts on “Cruising the Susquehanna River on Williamsport’s Hiawatha Riverboat”

Nice article! I’ve riden the Hiawatha several times, and have thoroughly enjoyed the leisurely view of the river bank and our beautiful river.

Took a Concert Cruise a couple years ago; was a great time with friends. The sunset on the river was totally spectacular.

The reason the Hiawatha didn’t head East on the river toward Williamsport is because of the Hepburn Street Dam, which still exists.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise with us! I grew up on the river, as a boater, when my parents bought their first boat in 1964…..I was only 4 years old. We had a River Lot/Dock right where the Hiawatha turns around on our one hour cruise. We do offer two and three hour cruises/special events that go farther west above the railroad bridge. Our goal is to assure every rider a good time by answering questions and sharing our experiences on the river. All of our Staff Members and Captains enjoy what we have to offer the public. When you are having a great time we are having a great time, Captain Mike.

What are the prices

Their website has that information (It’s linked near the bottom of the article). Since it varies by cruise, I didn’t include it in the article.

Very interesting information to use as we travel around Pennsylvania.

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"Waterfalls of Pennsylvania" by Jim Cheney

If you love PA waterfalls, you won't want to miss this waterfall book from Jim Cheney, author of Uncovering PA, featuring more than 180 great waterfalls. Order it now on Bookshop.org or Amazon .

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Hiawatha Paddlewheel Riverboat

by LCVB | Aug 9, 2024 | 0 comments

One of the most popular attractions in Central Pennsylvania, the Hiawatha Paddlewheel Riverboat offers six days a week of public cruising May through October. Enjoy a relaxing 1-hour long cruise on the Susquehanna River. Through narration and music, hear the story of the Hiawatha and learn the rich history of early days along the river. The Hiawatha has a climate controlled lower deck, snack bar, full beverage service, open seating, restrooms, and is handicap accessible.

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Hiawatha Paddlewheel Riverboat

The Hiawatha – A Story of Lore, Lumberjacks & Local History

The Hiawatha, built nearly a century ago after its namesake, is a paddlewheel excursion boat that cruises up and down the Susquehanna River. It is a tribute to hundreds of Lycoming County businesses and private citizens who supplied the monies, labor and materials to create her. It is just one more way in which area residents, and visitors, too, can recall the remarkable heritage surrounding the Susquehanna River.

The original Hiawatha was a steam-driven stern-wheeler that was one of the delights of the summer season. Under the command of Captain Jack English, the shallow draft craft would take Sunday picnickers to Sylvan Dell Park on the south side of the river about 3  miles below Williamsport. With an 80-foot length, an 18-foot beam and 2 decks, the original Hiawatha carried several hundred passengers from Market Street downstream to Sylvan Dell in 20 to 25 minutes. The return trip upstream against the current took 30 to 35 minutes. Once aboard the new Hiawatha, one can easily imagine the swish of long skirts, the tap-tap of high-buttoned shoes on deck and the excited squeals of children as families climbed aboard for Sunday outings. Unfortunately, in the winter of 1914 the Hiawatha was caught in ice at its Market Street mooring. During the break-up of the ice the following spring, it was heaved and crushed and finally carried away in the flood.

The body of water that both the original Hiawatha and the new Hiawatha call home is the beautiful west branch of the Susquehanna River. It joins the north branch of the Susquehanna around 40 miles downstream at Sunbury. It then flows south to Harrisburg and eventually empties into the Atlantic Ocean by way of the Chesapeake Bay.

The name Susquehanna comes from the Susquehannock Indians who lived along the river from before 1500 until after the Revolutionary War. In their native language, Susquehannock means “from the smooth-flowing stream.” Many Indian arrowheads and artifacts can still be found in the fields along both sides of the river.

The Indian heritage of the Susquehanna Valley has its somber side as well. During the American Revolution Indians in this area were encouraged by the British to fight against the Colonists. They were given rewards in return for the settlers scalps. On July 3, 1778, the worst massacre of the revolution occurred at Plum Tree Thicket. The site of the massacre is now the corner of West Fourth Street and Cemetery Streets in Williamsport. On that day around sunset, Indians attacked a party of 16 men, women and children. Twelve were killed and scalped. Only their leader, Peter Smith, one other man and 2 children escaped.

After the Plum Tree Thicket massacre, the marauding continued throughout the Valley. Finally Colonel Samuel Hunter, Commander of Fort Augusta in Sunbury, ordered settlers to evacuate the West Branch Valley. Then a fearless scout and Indian fighter named Robert Convenhoven rode through the valley to Lock Haven warning the settlers to leave. His journey was much like Paul Reveres ride, only under more dangerous circumstances! The resulting mass exodus that followed is now known as the “Great Runaway,” and it took place on the Susquehanna River. Imagine, if you can, hundreds of people floating down the river on boats, rafts, hog troughs, washtubs, and practically anything that would float. With them they carried as many of their possessions as they could. The settlers did not return to their homes and fields until years later when the Indian uprisings were ended.

The Pennsylvania Railroad which ran from Harrisburg to Buffalo was once located on the south shore of the Susquehanna River. It is now Conrail and, although it hauls only freight, it is still a major railroad line.

South of Williamsport is the Bald Eagle chain of mountains. The mountains were appropriately named since they were once home to numerous bald eagles. Today much of this range is State Forest land and is inhabited by wildlife, including deer and bear. Occasionally, bald eagles can still be seen.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed the flood control dike on the north shore in 1953. During the Agnes Flood of 1972, the river rose to within one foot of the top of the dike. Also on the north shore of the river is the dry bed of the former West Branch Canal which ran from Harrisburg to Lock Haven. Built by hand, the canal prospered from 1834 to 1889 when railroads put it out of business. Mules or horses that walked along the side of the canal towed the canal boats. In addition to freight boats, there were several huge packet boats that could carry up to 100 passengers. It took two weeks to travel from Williamsport to Harrisburg on the packet boats, but this was not a hardship since they were furnished as luxuriously as the finest hotels.

The Susquehanna Valley was once densely forested with beautiful hardwood and softwood trees. That’s why raw timber and, later, lumber played such an important part in the history of Williamsport and Lycoming County.

The first lumbering enterprise that took place on the Susquehanna River was rafting which began as early as 1796. Rafts made of huge tree trunks were bound together and floated downriver to the markets in Philadelphia and Baltimore. Some rafts were 100 feet long and were steered by oars. A primitive cabin on board provided a place for the rafts men to eat and sleep. These men were colorful characters with their red wool shirts, high boots and coonskin caps.

The spar rafts were very important. They were made up of straight, round Susquehanna pine trees that were eventually used as masts for ships. In the days of wooden ships and iron men, many U. S. Navy warships were built of timber that passed from the Susquehanna Valley to the Chesapeake Bay.

Today piles of stones, like small islands in the water, can still be seen at regular intervals. These are cribs the remains of the famous Susquehanna Boom. What exactly was the Boom? Well, it was really a floating fence in the river used to catch and store logs. The man who started it was calico tycoon, James Perkins. When Perkins came to the Susquehanna Valley in 1845 he noticed the gentle fall of the river in the section known as the Long Reach. At the same time lumber companies needed a fast and cost-efficient way to transport logs downriver to their mills. To prevent the logs from floating away, Perkins built something similar to a giant catcher’s mitt. It was a series of square wooden cribs that were filled with stones and sunk to the river bottom. Logs were chained end-to-end between the cribs to make the “webbing” which would catch the floating logs.

Of course, log catching wasn’t free. Lumber companies had to pay a toll to use this huge floating fence called a Boom. After convincing local Williamsport businessmen of the potential success of his idea, James Perkins’s Susquehanna Boom Company gradually came into being. It was incorporated in 1846.

The Susquehanna Boom became an overwhelming success. Lumber companies were well served, but much had to be accomplished before the lumber reached the Boom. First of all, the trees, mostly white pine and hemlock, were cut in the forests upriver. Then the sawmill companies branded their logs with a particular company mark. Usually cut in the wintertime, the trees were then skidded or hauled over the ice and snow to the banks of the smaller streams that fed the Susquehanna River. They were stacked there until spring. When the waters rose with the spring thaw, the logs were then floated downstream to the Susquehanna River and finally to the Boom.

The chain link of logs called the Susquehanna Boom started on the south side of the river and ran upriver for 7 miles to the north side. There were 352 cribs in all, each 22 feet high. At the upper end of the boom was a device called a sheer boom. It was 1,000 feet long and was operated by a hand-powered windlass. Its job was to gather the logs into the main boom which could hold 300 million board feet of logs.

At the lower end of the boom, the logs were sorted so that each mill would receive its own branded logs. As needed, they were moved into the holding ponds of the 35 sawmills that lined the riverfront in Williamsport. From there, West Branch Valley lumber went all over the world to make chairs, tables, desks and houses.

During the lumber companies’ three best decades, 1861 to 1891, the Susquehanna Boom prospered. So did Williamsport. More than 30 million logs were floated into the boom and delivered to sawmills. The sawmills produced five and a half billion board feet of lumber –enough to construct 650,000 average houses of today.

Williamsport had 35 sawmills in operation at the peak of activity. The owners of the sawmills were called lumber barons, and no wonder! They became rich and built opulent, Victorian-style homes along what is now Williamsport’s Fourth Street. Today it is still called “Millionaires Row.” It has been said that the Williamsport sawmills put the “mill” into “Millionaire.” These lumber magnets competed with each other in building their rambling, multi-winged houses. They strived to duplicate the grandeur of European villas. In fact, the section of West Fourth Street, from the 400 block to the 1000 block, claimed to have more millionaires living on it than any other such street in the world.

The Boom era’s most flamboyant entrepreneur was lumber baron, Peter Herdic. He undertook one of the biggest financial ventures of the time. He built one of the grandest hotels on the eastern seaboard, the Herdic House. It’s construction cost was $225,000 a tremendous sum for those days. This magnificent structure could accommodate 700 guests in luxurious comfort. The main entrance to the Herdic House was a beautiful deer park in which guests could see deer roaming about. With its lavish furnishings and sparkling chandeliers, Peter Herdic’s beautiful hotel was a showplace for visiting luminaries for many years. Today, with two of its original four floors remaining, Herdic House can be seen at 800 West Fourth Street. It was last known as the Park Home.

Not everyone lived as comfortably as those in the Herdic House and on Millionaire’s Row. During the lumber era, mill hands worked 12-hour days, six days a week, at $1.50 per day. Due to the low wages and long workdays, in 1872 there was a workers’ strike called the “Sawdust War.” The mill workers wanted 10-hour days with no cut in pay. Martial law was declared, the strikers were arrested and their leaders were jailed. Lumber baron, Peter Herdic, bailed them out. Interestingly enough, one of the strikes ringleaders was Thomas Greevey, a great uncle of Williamsport’s retired, and quite honorable, Judge Charles F. Greevey.

Of course, Williamsport was a lively place during the Lumber Era, too. Just like an Old West Gold Rush town, there were saloons on many street corners to accommodate the boisterous lumberjacks and mill hands. One of the most memorable characters of the boom era was a big, strong lumberjack named “Cherry Tree” Joe McCreary. The Susquehanna Valley’s own Paul Bunyan, Cherry Tree Joe was born near Muncy, probably with an ax in his hand! One story tells of how he single handedly broke up a 7-mile logjam on the Chess Creek. There’s another tale about how Cherry Tree Joe actually backed down the world-champion prizefighter, John L. Sullivan, after the two of them exchanged angry words in a Renovo saloon.

Naturally, there were other forms of entertainment. Lavish balls and soirees were held in the stately homes of the wealthy. There were beautiful ornate opera house, The Ulman, the Lycoming and the Academy of Music–that attracted the likes of Diamond Jim Brady and Lillian Russell.

The workingmen and the wealthy may not have socialized together, but they came together when it was time to get the timber to market. The lumberjacks chopped it, the lumber barons sold it, and everybody was happy because they all made money.

Life in a logging camp was not easy. These camps were located upriver from Williamsport. High on the mountainsides, the camps were limited

to hardy souls only. A typical camp included 100 to 150 men who went into the forests late in the fall and, with the exception of Christmas, did not emerge until spring. The loggers earned as high as $2.50 a day, which was considered good pay. Food and supplies were imported for the winter. The camp cook prepared simple, yet abundant food. The workday at the lumber camps began before dawn and ended after dusk. Each man was trained to do particular job. “Choppers” used axes to notch the tree to direct the fall. “Fellers” used a two-man cross cut saw to remove the bark from the tree. “Sawyers” cut the tree into various length logs. “Scalers” determined the amount of board feet in each log. “Haulers” transported the logs to the nearest stream for the float downstream to the boom.

The haulers were generally recognized as having the toughest job: getting the logs to the closest stream. Split log chutes, some of which were four miles long, were constructed for this purpose. If not frozen, the chutes were greased in order for the logs to slide down. In the lower elevations, oxen or horses could be used to drag the logs to the stream bank. In winter sleds were sometimes used. The hauling continued all winter long so that logs would be ready to float away with the high waters in the spring.

When the waters rose with the spring thaw, thousands of waiting logs were pushed down the mountain streams and into the Susquehanna River. An aerial view of the Susquehanna Boom at this time would have had the appearance of millions of floating matchsticks. Naturally, serious logjams developed. Men called jam crackers would then try to extricate the key log in the jam with long, pointed poles known as pikes and cant hooks. Once the logs were loosened, the men leaped to safety for fear of being crushed by an avalanche of logs.

The colorful men who worked the boom, from the lumberjacks in the logging camps to the jam crackers like Cherry Tree Joe, were collectively called boom rats. The actual tools they used can be seen at the Thomas T. Taber Museum of the Lycoming County Historical Society, located at 858 West Fourth Street in Williamsport. On display are pile poles, cant hooks, peaveys, cross cut saws, the brands used to mark the lumber and much more. The museum features dioramas that included the operation of the lumber mill, a log slide, a log railroad, and the infamous Plum Tree Thicket Massacre. There is also a replica of what started it all, the mighty Susquehanna Boom.

Susquehanna Boom days couldn’t last forever, and eventually it was the forces of nature that combined to bring this magnificent era to a close. The Susquehanna Boom survived numerous floods, but the flood of 1894 marked the beginning of the end. After the devastation of that flood, may owners chose not to rebuild their sawmills, and the mills that stayed in operation began to use the railroad rather than the river to transport their lumber. In 1909 the last log drives went down Kettle Creek and Little Pine Creek, and the boom stood empty with the closing of the Central Pennsylvania Lumber Company in December 1919.

Another factor in the closing of the boom was the diminishing of its natural resources’ the forests themselves. Hundreds of thousands of acres of forestland were stripped; so much so that the countryside around Williamsport had the appearance of a barren desert. In the late 1870’s, the State legislature bought much of the barren land for a dollar an acre, and this acreage now stands as State Game Lands and recreational parks. Pennsylvania also enacted rebate offers to farmers to plant trees in order to prevent erosion. Today, lush, green forests once again surround the people of the Susquehanna Valley.

In addition to Williamsport’s place in history as the one-time “Lumber Capital of the World,” it has many other things about which to boast. For example, Williamsport is the home of the oldest musical organization of its kind in the United States’ the Repasz-Elks Band, formed in 1831.

An official band of the National Guard, the Repasz Band played at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, when Lee surrendered to Grant. It played during the inauguration of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. The famous conductor, John Phillips Sousa, visited Williamsport and told the Repasz Band director, “You have what I cannot but, a loyalty and enthusiasm.”

Other musical accomplishments include those of James M. Black, a Williamsport Methodist lay revivalist, who wrote “When the Roll is Called Up Yonder” as well as the religious and jazz favorite, “When the Saints Go Marching In.” The Reverend J. H. Hopkins, a former rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Williamsport, needed a carol for his annual Christmas pageant and wrote “We Three Kings of Orient Are!”

Peter Herdic was enterprising in other areas besides lumber and grand hotels. He introduced a delicacy to gourmet chefs that was first prepared by lumber camp cooks. It was called planked shad. Peter Herdic also invented the horse drawn taxicab. His idea was later copied in the metropolitan areas. In fact, the word “Herdic” is listed in Webster’s Dictionary as “a 19th century American horse drawn cab.”

Today, Williamsport’s newest millionaires are the members of the Williamsport Area High School “Millionaire” Marching Band. This is just one reminder of the community’s pride in its lumbering heritage.

Williamsport is also famous as the birthplace of Little League Baseball. Founded in 1939 by Carl Stotz, Little League has grown to international proportions. Its headquarters and the Little League Museum are located on Route 15 in South Williamsport. The Little League campus includes Lamade Field, the site of the annual Little League World Series Championship which is held each August. Now Williamsport is the epicenter for American Energy Independence being situated in the Marcellus Shale Natural Gas formation. With the new gas economy,  Williamsport & Lycoming County entered a new era of opportunity.

From Indians to Millionaires! From logging camps and boom rats to Little League Baseball! From Peter Herdic to the Hiawatha! Williamsport and the Susquehanna Valley have enjoyed a rich and colorful history–one in which both back-breaking labor and ingenuity brought fame and fortune to a community that still lies nestled in one of the nation’s most lush river valleys. The Susquehanna River still flows smoothly on its way to the Atlantic. And, oh! What stories she could tell: Of Indians on the rampage and frightened settlers floating downstream in the Great Runaway! Of colorful rafts men singing lusty ballads on the river at dusk! Of brawny jam crackers jumping for their lives just ahead of an unloosened logjam! The river could tell us stories about traveling aboard a gaily-painted paddlewheel excursions boat, called the Hiawatha!

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Hiawatha Paddlewheel Riverboat

2205 Hiawatha Blvd, Williamsport , Pennsylvania 17701 USA

• Independent
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“a tribute to hundreds of Lycoming County citizens”

The Hiawatha, built nearly a century after its namesake, is a paddlewheel excursion boat that cruises up and down the Susquehanna River. It is a tribute to hundreds of Lycoming County businesses and private citizens who supplied monies, labor and materials to create her.The Hiawatha Paddlewheel Riverboat is just one way in which area residents and visitors can recall the remarkable heritage surrounding the Susquehanna River. Lycoming County is on the beautiful west branch of the Susquehanna. It joins the north branch around 40 miles downstream at Sunbury. It then flows south to Harrisburg and eventually empties into the Atlantic Ocean by way of the Chesapeake Bay.

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Reviewed by lance.philip.1

A fun inexpensive riverboat ride. Great views of the river from every spot on the boat.

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Sit Back, Relax

Cruise information.

Visit the Hiawatha Paddlewheel Riverboat, one of the most popular attractions in Central Pennsylvania!

Enjoy a relaxing hour-long cruise on the Susquehanna River. Through narration and music, hear the story of the Hiawatha and learn the rich history of the early days along the river.

Tickets may be purchased online or at the Hiawatha dock.

• Children (3-12): $10.00
• Adults (13-59): $15.00
• Seniors (60+): $13.00

When We Cruise

2024 schedule.

Season Start: May | Season End: October

June, July, & August

• Wednesday – Sunday

May, September, & October

• Saturday – Sunday

Click the book now button below for available times!

Subject to availability and river conditions.

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The Hiawatha, Inc. is a 501 C 3 not for profit organization and relies on community sponsors for each and every cruising season. We thank the many businesses for their financial support!

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• Hiawatha Dock Address 2205 Hiawatha Blvd Williamsport, PA 17701
• Mailing Address Hiawatha, Inc. 950 Broad Street Montoursville, PA 17754
• (570) 220-0528

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Hiawatha Paddlewheel Riverboat

Great Dinner Cruises in PA for the Whole Family!

Cruise the lovely Susquehanna River as you enjoy a sumptuous buffet, when you board one of Hiawatha's wonderful riverboats!  Check the website regularly to keep updated on the cruise schedule.  All cruises set sail from the dock at Susquehanna State Park and usually last from 6 to 7:30 P.M.  

Adult beverages are available.  Reservations are required.  Hiawatha also offers public, brunch, Wing Night, karaoke, kids' karaoke, family night, Quizzo, Murder Mystery, Cinco De Mayo, Halloween, and concert cruises.  Private charters are available on a first come, first serve basis.  To book a reservation or request additional information, call 570-326-2500 or 800-248-9287 today!

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Review: Apple Watch Series 10

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On its 10th birthday, the Apple Watch faces some serious challenges. While it’s still one of the world’s most popular smartwatches and fitness trackers , the wearables market has become flooded with dupes and wannabes. Additionally, there are few good reasons to upgrade to a new Apple Watch, especially since a hand-me-down Series 6 is compatible with the latest updates to watchOS and looks basically the same as a brand-new model. An older Series 6 also has blood oxygen sensing , a now standard health feature that the newest Apple Watches do not have due to a patent dispute with the health-tech company Masimo Corp. Finally, and most devastatingly, the Apple Watch also faces serious competition from the Google Pixel Watch 3 .

After a decade spent defining a new market, the Apple Watch is just not the only good-looking smartwatch—or the only smartwatch worth owning—around anymore.

Charged with making this year’s Apple Watch irresistible, the company made a bunch of upgrades. The Series 10 now comes in a polished jet black finish that is indeed very shiny. The watch's case is also much thinner and lighter, with a new S10 chip that is single-sided to be flatter, and a brighter, bigger, wide-angle display. The Series 10 now tracks your breathing disturbances while you sleep and can tell you if you might have sleep apnea. It charges faster, has a new speaker, a new depth gauge, and a new water temperature sensor. And watchOS 11 is still the best watch OS. It just is.

The Watch Series 10 might not deserve breathless adulation, and I'm pretty sure Beyoncé isn't going to release pap photos of herself wearing it (unless she does, in which case, my bad), but this is still just the best smartwatch for iPhone users. The absence of blood oxygen sensing is a significant obstacle, but at the end of the day, it’s still the watch that’s the hardest for me to take off.

The most unbelievable thing about the Series 10 is that the display on the 46-millimeter model is actually bigger than the display on the 49-mm Watch Ultra 2. This trickery is accomplished through the miracle of geometry. The watch case has curved edges and the display extends down the sides, while the Watch Ultra 2 has a flat display and a titanium case that protects the corners from bumps and bangs.

It’s also much thinner and lighter than previous watches, and it’s especially noticeable when compared to the 45-mm Google Pixel Watch 3; Google's watch is 14.3 mm deep while the Series 10 is just 9.7 mm deep. I personally don’t have problems wearing big, chunky sports watches—the bigger the better, I always say—but I do know people, including my own husband, who can't sleep while wearing one because they’re too big.

The back is also now metal, both to incorporate some hardware changes and to improve the hand feel, although I don’t actually see or feel that much of a difference when I compare it to the previous Apple Watch's ceramic back. I do love the polished aluminum jet black finish, even though it shows my greasy fingertips like whoa.

The curved edges do echo the Pixel Watch 3’s design, but the screens perform differently. I compared the two watch screens and the Series 10's does have a wider viewing angle; the Pixel Watch 3’s display becomes unreadable much more quickly than the Series 10’s when you twist the watch away from you. I have a hard time finding this change to be that useful—I am a very active working mom of two kids and two dogs, yet somehow even I don’t find flicking my wrist towards my face to be that difficult.

What that wider viewing angle does do, however, is show off the new watch faces, Reflections and Flux, to many more people. All in all, these hardware improvements are focused on making the watch look more appealing. When even your doctor is asking you about your new watch when she’s supposed to be giving you test results (this really did happen), I think it’s working.

Two other significant improvements are faster charging and a better speaker in the watch. I am now going to drop my major tip, which is that if you have a fast-charging Apple Watch and a fast charger plugged into the socket in your bathroom, you can fully charge your watch every morning in the time it takes you to shower, brush your teeth, and dress, which is about 20 minutes for me. (You still can’t make the battery last through a three-day backpacking trip, however.) Apple also now claims that you can get every watch in a carbon-neutral combination, although we have historically been skeptical of those claims.

It's really bad news that there is no blood oxygen sensing on the Series 10, and no word on when or if it will come back. This is ridiculous, as every single other fitness tracker on God's green earth now has this feature. I may have never personally used this information, but we all bought pulse oximeters during the Covid-19 pandemic , and assuming I do get Covid again (once in five years, baby!), I imagine I will want to know what my oxygen saturation levels are.

The sleep apnea tracking feature, on the other hand, received FDA clearance during the testing period of this watch and rolled out yesterday with watchOS 11. It uses data from the watch’s accelerometer to check for breathing disturbances during sleep, and it's only available with the Watch Series 9 , the Watch Series 10, and the Watch Ultra 2. I was told by Apple that my review unit would receive an over-the-air update over the weekend, but it did not, so I only got a brief glimpse of the feature before writing this review. However, your sleep data only gets analyzed every 30 calendar days, so I wouldn’t have gotten any results back anyway. (Also, I don’t think I have sleep apnea.)

However, 80 percent of people who have sleep apnea are undiagnosed, and right now, the only way to get it tested for it is a disruptive sleep study where you go to a medical facility and get hooked up to expensive machines for part or all of the night. The fact that you now can check for sleep apnea, conveniently and at home, is pretty a big deal.

A Bigger Splash

The new water features are intended for a very specific coastal demographic to which I am slightly ashamed to belong. A friend once told me that “the river is your church” and yes, it’s true. Most of my family’s recreational time is spent on, in, or around the water. I love the new water temperature sensor, which tells me if the water I’m swimming in is 81 degrees (just suck it up for a sec) or 72 degrees (hell no). You can see the Depth app underwater, which I tested via my usual method of trying to see if I can swim across the whole pool without coming up for breath.

My family spends most of the summer paddleboarding and paddle camping, and I just downloaded Paddle Logger for the Apple Watch. Similar to the cycling features, Paddle Logger uses GPS and motion sensors in the watch to guide you on a paddle journey with haptic and visual feedback. There’s also a new Tides app in watchOS 11, which is very helpful for figuring out when the water is going to be rising and when the winds will be picking up on the rivers near me. With all that said, I know that a lot of this country is landlocked. At least some new custom workouts for pool swimming have been added as well.

The metrics collected by the Watch Series 10 mostly align with my Oura ring. I will say that the Oura’s step count is consistently a few hundred steps higher that what the Apple Watch reports. The Apple Watch also tends to record around 10 to 20 minutes more sleep per night. But the differences aren’t big enough for me to think that the Series 10 is wildly inaccurate.

Black Is Better

You’ll notice that I have not said that much about Apple Intelligence. Most of the machine intelligence in the watch is for things that you can’t really see, like suppressing background noise in calls or checking if your nighttime snoring is bad or really bad. I like it that way. As cute as Craig Federighi’s dog is, I don’t need a computer to generate images, write text messages, or make jokes. Humans are pretty good at all of those things. I don’t want to talk to my computer, either.

Not having blood oxygen sensing is a huge ding. But checking for undiagnosed sleep apnea is one of the most useful applications that I can see for a wearable that you’re supposed to wear all the time, and I’m not just saying this as someone whose spouse snores. Keeping a pocket-sized pulse oximeter at home is easy, but checking yourself in for a night’s sleep study is hard. In 30 days, I’m looking forward to seeing how many people realize that they do need medical intervention.

If it wasn’t quite as dazzling a change as I was expecting the 10th Apple Watch to be, it’s hard for me to say that it’s a bad update. The Apple Watch still has the best-looking display, the most seamless integration with the iPhone, the best accessories, and the best OS. I even caught my spouse, who is the least fashion-conscious person on the planet, looking longingly at the new all-black Watch Ultra 2. It’s still the best smartwatch and fitness tracker for the iPhone, and it still looks good doing what it does.