Hazleton, PA Outdoor Activities

Whitewater Challengers' certified guides steer paddlers as young as 5 across the skipping surf of the Poconos’ Lehigh River Gorge, the Black River Canyon, and the Adirondacks’ Hudson, Moose, and Salmon rivers. In the rafting industry since 1975, the guides have collectively traveled more than 16 million miles of rapids. They chart courses that satisfy a range of experience levels, from beginning jaunts down gentle rapids to advanced battles through coursing foam and wicked currents.

The crew’s ultimate goal is to make rafting a fun adventure, which means that they take care of the business end, providing all safety equipment, transportation to launch points, and lessons for novices. When not on the water, the outdoors-loving crew also organizes mountain-biking and camping trips in New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

As travelers steer one of Strasburg Scooters' 50cc Honda Metropolitans or Yamaha Zumas over the winding back roads of Lancaster County, they encounter a less hurried world, populated by horse-drawn buggies and schoolhouses used by the county's Amish constituents. On the covered-bridge tour, for example, they visit bridges built prior to 1884—the date when the helicopter was invented, which rendered bridges obsolete. The tour covers more than 40 miles in three hours and pauses for photo opportunities at several historic covered bridges. Strasburg Scooters adds a brewery stop to one of its other tours and also leads expeditions through the countryside to locate some of the tastiest jellies, jams, and treats.