Jim Thorpe: Whitewater, the Switchback Trail & Victorian Mountain Town

Several outfitters operate out of Jim Thorpe — including Pocono Whitewater and Jim Thorpe River Adventures — running guided raft trips on the upper Lehigh through a gorge whose walls rise 1,200 feet above the river and whose forest is entirely unbroken from put-in to take-out. In spring the river runs Class II-III with punchy hydraulics and technical lines through boulder gardens; by summer it settles to Class I-II, longer and more paddling-intensive, suitable for beginners. Full-day trips cover 12 miles of river; kayak instruction and half-day options are available for those who want a shorter morning on the water. The Lehigh gorge below Jim Thorpe is one of the finest whitewater corridors in the mid-Atlantic, and the scenery — hemlocks overhanging the banks, hawks riding the thermals above the ridge — is as much the point as the rapids.

Jim Thorpe — formerly Mauch Chunk — compresses an extraordinary density of American history into a few steep streets above the Lehigh gorge. The town was rechristened in 1954 after the Native American Olympic athlete and NFL founder whose remains are interred in a pink granite mausoleum at the edge of town, in a deal struck between the borough and his widow that remains controversial among the Sac and Fox nation. The Carbon County Courthouse on Broadway is where 10 of the Molly Maguires — Irish immigrant coal miners accused of labor organizing and murder — were hanged in a single day in June 1877 in trials that labor historians have identified as legally compromised from the start. The Asa Packer Mansion at the top of Millionaires' Row, built in 1861 for the founder of the Lehigh Valley Railroad and Lehigh University, contains the finest intact Victorian interiors in Pennsylvania: the original wallpapers, carpets, chandeliers, and furnishings have been preserved in place since the family's last occupant died in 1912.

The 1827 Mauch Chunk & Summit Hill Railroad was built to haul anthracite coal from the mines above town down to the Lehigh Canal — empty cars were hauled up by mule teams on the back grade, then released to run down by gravity alone on the front grade, reaching speeds the passengers found terrifying. By the 1870s the 18-mile round trip had been converted into a passenger attraction, carrying 35,000 tourists annually and establishing the template for the roller coaster as an amusement device. The 9-mile trail today follows the original gravity railroad grade through second-growth forest on the ridge above the Lehigh gorge, passing the original stone engine house and the remnants of the switchback mechanism at the summit. The grade is gentle and the footing firm; the trail is accessible to hikers of all abilities, and the views down into the gorge from the ridge are available at several points along the route.

Built in 1881 at the height of the coal region's prosperity, the Mauch Chunk Opera House on Broadway hosted the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show, John Philip Sousa, and a succession of touring companies during the decades when Jim Thorpe was the wealthiest per-capita town in America. The building's original pressed-tin ceiling, cast-iron balconies, and ornate proscenium arch have been preserved through the venue's current incarnation as a live music hall with a program running from Americana to classical. Even outside performance hours the lobby and main hall are worth a look — the interior represents the Victorian theater architecture of the mining-wealth era in a form that is entirely intact.