Celebrating the Summer in the Switzerland of North America

The small hamlet of Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania has everything a tourist and a local could want in the way of celebrations, art, outdoor events, fabulous antiquing, fine dining, five star lodging, and theater. Even whitewater rafting is available just one hour north of Philadelphia and west of New York City. But it is often the festivals that draw outsiders to Jim Thorpe - once known as Mauch Chunk by the Lenape Indians who lived here many years before tourism. The name means, "sleeping bear", because the town is nestled inside the Lehigh River Gorge, between two small mountains along Pennsylvania's Appalachian Trail. National Geographic Traveler recently listed Jim Thorpe as one of the top 20 small towns in the US.

Every summer, thousands descend upon Jim Thorpe on the weekends. Fridays and Saturdays, the streets are filled with passersby viewing the many art galleries, the Mauch Chunk Opera House, the Old Jail Museum and gearing up at Blue Mountain Sports for a white water rafting trip during one of the dam breaks on the Lehigh River.

In May, Jim Thorpe's Birthday Celebration is the first big festival to kick off summer. It falls the weekend before Labor Day, and it brings Native American artisans, musicians, and some actual family members of the Olympic athlete, Jim Thorpe, to town. Early on a Sunday morning, the sounds of Cherokee drum beats can be heard as you stroll along the steep mountain pathway leading to the Asa Packer and Harry Packer Mansions. The latter house was the design Walt Disney used for his ride The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland.

In June, the Wildlands of Pa sponsor and lead the annual Lehigh River Sojourn - a three day canoe trip from one end of the great Lehigh River to the next. Jim Thorpe is the most sought-after stop along the tour, with a festival alighting the town with musicians, crafters, food vendors, and locals alike, offering hospitality and refreshment to those lazily rowing down Pennsylvania's second most highly traveled river.

Every second Saturday, from May through October, the Carbon County Art League and the local art galleries of Jim Thorpe, open their doors wide to tourists and display much of their crafts and offerings on the sidewalks of the town during Second Saturdays. Broadway is lit up, from morning to night, with great art, beautiful jewelry, knitted and sewn masterpieces, and great food and music.

Every season in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania is highlighted by, at least, one festival from the soft lights of winter in December to the Folk Music Festival that hits at the end of every other summer on the lawn of the Asa Packer Mansion. Admission is always free, and the food and fun is quite affordable. At the end of a long day, several Victorian era bed and breakfasts, five star exotic restaurants, a local winery, and a haunted house tour on Saturday evenings. Jim Thorpe is certainly one of the greatest small towns in the US - a hidden jewel the climbs up the side of the Appalachian Mountains like a village in old Switzerland.