There is construction going on in the area of Pine Grove on Route 81. Presently Exit 104 northbound is closed and future plans are to rebuild some others, so this construction I imagine will take a year or more. A few miles south of Exit 100 traffic becomes single-lane for several miles. Depending on the time of day you are looking at a several mile back-up heading northbound. I personally haven’t driven down from the north recently but I imagine southbound gets backed up too.
Since I’ve been traveling to the park from the Harrisburg area for pretty much the entire time the park has been open, here’s some options I've learned:
1. Get off 81 early. Take Exit 80 and follow the signs that will take you to Hollywood Casino. Go past the casino about a mile and you will run into 443. Go right on 443 East and follow that through the back of Fort Indiantown Gap and you will end up coming into Pine Grove (going past Twin Grove Campground along the way for bonus points!). Stay on 443 until you get to the traffic light in Pine Grove. Go straight for Route 125. After a couple miles you will then come to the left-hand turn for the Exxon/Burger King. Ignore the 81 detour signs and make the left turn as this is Molleystown Road. Yay! We are 3.5 miles up the road.
2. The next exit up the road is Exit 85 (Fort Indiantown Gap). Follow Fisher Road to Route 443 East and pick up directions above.
3. You procrastinated and didn’t take Exit 80 or 85. Depending on the time of day you may be contemplating whether to take the matter “off road” (how many times have we all thought that). Instead take Exit 90 (Lickdale) and take 72 north to 443 East.
4. Another alternative to 81 is to get on Route 22 East just past Harrisburg and follow that into the Lickdale area and take 72 to 443.
5. Yet one more alternative, although adds some mileage, is to take 78 when you get to the 81/78 split and get off at the Bethel Exit 13 and come up and over 501 into Pine Grove.
6. And another way altogether is at Harrisburg take 322 West to 225 Dauphin and pick up 325 which will bring you into Tower City (Route 209) and follow that north up to Joliet.
For the northerners out there, if southbound is jammed up around Exit 107, only option I know of is to take Exit 112. Follow 25 (I think they call it East, in any event do not go in the direction of Camp-A-While, that’s the wrong direction). 25 will take you to 209 at which you go the right for 209 South towards Tremont. But be warned this short stretch of 25 is very downhilly for you trailer folks. At Tremont, 209 goes to the right and Route 125 to the left. Route 125 will take you to the Exxon/Burger King (see above). Route 209 will take you through Tremont and past the Exit 107 interchange of 81. At the traffic light for “Rausch Creek Road” do not take Rausch Creek Road. Go straight at that light. Go past the 81 Exit 107 interchange and go about a mile up the road and at Joliett you will turn left at the green triangle of grass, which is Main Street which then turns into Molleystown Road. Go a half mile and yay you found us.
