Ride the Pride of the Susquehanna

A pretty boat, the Pride of the Susquehanna is a replica of the riverboats from the late 1800s. Her interior offers her passengers old-timey, beautiful, polished brass work. The bar has a copper interior with brass tacks and a beautiful stained-glass ceiling. While you’re there, note the doors, which are historic. They come from the now retired ocean liner, the RMS Queen Mary.

Riding the Pride of the Susquehanna

The Pride of the Susquehanna offers multiple daily 45-minute sightseeing tours during the warm weather months, as well as special themed cruises, including a Murder Mystery Dinner, Sunset Dinner, Wine on Wednesdays, Rock the Boat, and more.

The tour takes you through the iconic Harrisburg bridges and back again, to City Island. While on the narrated tour, you learn about the history of the region, the Susquehanna River, industry on the river and more.

Interestingly, the Pride is one of six authentic paddleboats still active on American rivers. If you position yourself right on the upper deck, leaning forward at the front, you can watch the captain work the controls, making first the right, then the left paddle churn the water.

At 444 miles long, the Susquehanna River is the longest on the East Coast. The Susquehanna River forms from two main branches: the North Branch, which rises in Cooperstown, New York, and is regarded as the main branch, and the West Branch, which rises in western Pennsylvania and joins the main branch near Northumberland in central Pennsylvania. As it runs past Harrisburg, though, it’s wide and deep. Despite its proximity to a major metropolitan area, most of its shores are still wild and undeveloped.

Stroll the Walnut Street Bridge

While you’re on City Island, take a few minutes to stroll across the historic Walnut Street Bridge. Spanning between City Island and historic Harrisburg, it’s the oldest surviving bridge over the Susquehanna. It is also one of the last remaining multi-span Phoenix truss bridges. Now a pedestrian-only bridge, it closed to automobiles in 1972 after the historic flooding of Hurricane Agnes.

Know Before You Go

The Pride runs rain or shine. It was quite rainy the day we took the tour and the steps were a bit slippery, even though they’ve tried to mitigate the slippiness. Also, if it’s raining, wear a rain poncho so you won’t be confined to the lower deck. There are bathrooms on board. Unless it’s a dinner cruise or other specialty cruise, the bar only offers snacks, sodas and alcoholic drinks.

Getting there: 1 Championship Way, Harrisburg, PA
Hours: Runs most weekends during the warmer months. Check the website below for a specific schedule.
Website: Harrisburg River Boat