14 Top Things to Do in Easton, PA

Easton is a city steeped in creativity and history in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley. Its town square hosted one of just three public readings of the Declaration of Independence back in 1776.

During the golden age of canals, Easton was the place where the Lehigh Canal met the Delaware and Morris canals, helping the town achieve prosperity in the 19th century. Plus, it's home to a factory that makes one of the most iconic art supplies–Crayola crayons–churning out millions of the colorful wax sticks every single day.

Today, tourists of all ages can find fun things to do in Easton. You can see big-name acts from across the country perform live at the State Theatre. Shop for local produce at several agricultural attractions, including a farmers market that's as old as Easton itself.

Customize a crayon with your own color name at the Crayola Experience. Hop in a tube and take a leisurely float down the Delaware River. You can also take a ride on Pennsylvania's only mule-drawn canal boat at the National Canal Museum.

Ready to discover the art and heritage of the Lehigh Valley? Check out our list of the top things to do in Easton, PA.

See a Show at the State Theatre Center for the Arts

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the State Theatre Center for the Arts is a beautiful venue with a 1,500-seat performance hall, Beaux-Arts style facade, and an overhanging marquee that glitters with Old Hollywood glamor.

The building initially served as a bank before becoming part of the vaudeville circuit and a silent film theater. It is now a non-profit, member-supported performing arts center that offers a variety of programming, ranging from concerts and tours of Broadway shows to stand-up comedy and magic.

Legend has it that the spirit of J. Fred Osterstock, the manager of the company that owned the venue in the mid-20th century, haunts the State Theatre to this day. He's known as "Fred the Ghost" and serves as the namesake for the theater's annual Freddy Awards, which recognize the achievements of musical theater in high schools throughout the region.

Address: 453 Northampton Street, Easton, Pennsylvania

Official site: www.statetheatre.org

Get Ice Cream at Klein Farms Dairy and Creamery

On a hot day in Easton, nothing is more refreshing than an ice cream from Klein Farms Dairy and Creamery. This family-owned farm, which has been in business since 1935, offers more than 20 flavors of ice cream, including strawberry, Key lime, cream cheese, and classic vanilla–all made with natural ingredients and no artificial colors or flavors.

Tourists can also shop for eggs from cage-free hens, aged cheeses, raw milk, meats, and sweet treats at the farm.

Klein Farms Dairy and Creamery is more than a shop, though. It's also an agricultural attraction. Head behind the red Dairy Store building for a meet and greet with some of the farm's animals, including goats, cows, sheep, and geese. Kibble is available for purchase, so you can hand-feed the animals. There's also a corn maze in the fall.

Address: 410 Klein Rd., Easton, Pennsylvania

Official site: www.kleinfarms.com

Shop the Easton Farmers' Market

The Easton Farmers' Market is as old as the city itself. Established in 1752, it is the longest continuously running open-air market in the country. Every Saturday, the vibrant market offers residents and tourists alike the chance to shop for produce, dairy, meat, eggs, botanicals, flowers, and crafts from a variety of local purveyors.

Come hungry–there's plenty of ready-to-eat foods and drinks, too, including single-origin coffees from Roastwell Coffee Roasters, empanadas from Tierra de Fuego, and pastries from Flour Shop Bakery.

During the regular season, which runs from May through the last Saturday before Christmas, the Easton Farmers' Market can be found at the Riverfront at Scott Park. It moves to Centre Square for its winter season.

Official site: www.eastonfarmersmarket.com

Go Tubing on the Delaware River

Located just down the block from the Crayola Experience, Twin Rivers Tubing specializes in fun family-friendly adventures on the Delaware River. It offers transportation and all the gear you need (including life jackets and tubes complete with backrests and cup holders) for a lazy, scenic float that lasts roughly three hours, depending on the river conditions.

You can also choose from a few other types of aquatic excursions, including kayaking, canoeing, and rafting.

No reservations are required for tubing in groups of 14 or less. Twin Rivers Tubing provides access to indoor restrooms, changing rooms, and outdoor showers, so you can freshen up before taking advantage of other things to do in Easton.

Address: 27 South 3rd Street, Easton, Pennsylvania

Official site: www.twinriverstubing.com

Take a Mule-Drawn Canal Boat Ride at the National Canal Museum

Located within Hugh Moore Park on the banks of the Lehigh Canal, the National Canal Museum makes the history, science, and culture of canals accessible to people of all ages through a range of hands-on exhibits.

Visits begin in a hall filled with paintings and children's book illustrations depicting the Lehigh Canal in the 19th century. Then, you'll enter the main exhibition hall, where you'll see models of boats, explanations of how canal keys worked, samples of anthracite (which were shipped through canals), and a life-size mule model you can try your hand at harnessing.

The National Canal Museum is also the only place in Pennsylvania where tourists can experience a mule-drawn canal boat ride. From June through early October, you can hop aboard the 48-ton Josiah White II canal boat pulled by resident mules Hank and George for a 45-minute tour on old Section 8 of the Lehigh Canal to the Locktender's House and back.

Address: 2750 Hugh Moore Park Road, Easton, Pennsylvania

Official site: www.canals.org

Customize a Crayon at the Crayola Experience

Fair warning to parents: You'll have a hard time getting your kids to leave the Crayola Experience. Sprawling across four floors, this mega attraction celebrates crayons, color, and creativity through interactive, playful experiences for children of all ages. The most exciting part for many visitors is the opportunity to wrap your own Crayola crayon with a customized label (complete with a color name you come up with!) to take home.

But that's just the beginning of the things to do at this top place to visit in Easton. You can also create a swirly masterpiece by dripping melted crayon wax on a canvas atop a spinning wheel, snap a selfie to star in your own coloring book page, see a 1,500-pound crayon, cut a personalized puzzle, and play on a crayon-themed playground.

You'll get plenty of souvenirs throughout the experience, but in case you're looking for more goodies, check out the gift shop on the first floor. It has the world's largest selection of Crayola products.

Address: 30 Centre Square, Easton, Pennsylvania

Official site: www.crayolaexperience.com/easton

Learn about Local History at the Sigal Museum

Learn the history of Northampton County at the Sigal Museum. Located directly across the street from the Easton Public Market, this institution showcases a collection of pre-European settlement artifacts, colonial furniture, farming tools, textiles, and a gallery of decorative arts.

Throughout the galleries, you can also see displays of vintage and antique clothing, including Civil War-era caps, World War II dress uniforms, and trendy dresses and accessories from the mid-20th century that belonged to local philanthropist Louise W. Moore Pine.

You can see most of the exhibits in under a couple of hours. But if time is tight, it's still worth popping into the lobby, where you can see the first pumper truck of Easton on display. The firefighting vehicle dates back to 1797.

Address: 342 Northampton Street, Easton, Pennsylvania

Official site: www.sigalmuseum.org

See the Historic Centre Square

The heart of downtown Easton can be found at Centre Square, a circular green space at the intersection of Northampton and 3rd streets. Back in 1776, one of only three public readings of the Declaration of Independence occurred on this site.

Today, it features a towering monument in honor and remembrance of veterans. Easton is also working on upgrading the site to include the introduction to this important document around the edge of the fountain.

Get Your Sugar Fix at The Carmelcorn Shop

The Carmelcorn Shop has been giving everyone in Easton their sugar fix since 1931. As the name of this store suggests, its claim to fame is its sticky-sweet caramelized popcorn. You can also stock up on other sugary confections, including licorice, gummies, homemade fudge, chocolate truffles, crystallized ginger, and toasted coconut marshmallows–just to name a few favorites.

Address: 62 Centre Square Circle, Easton, Pennsylvania

Official site: www.carmelcornshop.com

Explore an Outdoor Arts Gallery

Stretch your legs on a paved path flanked by artwork on the Karl Stirner Arts Trail. The trail, which was named after a world-renowned sculptor who played a key role in revitalizing Easton's arts scene, runs for 1.6 miles along the Bushkill Creek and through the downtown area.

Visitors can see 16 pieces in the continuously growing collection, including stainless steel chimes that play Beethoven's "Für Elise," an award-winning interactive stone sculpture inspired by a waterway, a wall painted by young artists, and a red arch conceived by the path's namesake patriarch.

Between the scenery and the art, the trail will no doubt leave you feeling inspired.

Official site: www.karlstirnerartstrail.org

Grab a Bite to Eat at Easton Public Market

From bowls of steaming hot ramen and Texas-style barbecue with all the fixin's to tacos, pizza, and handmade chocolates, Easton Public Market has something tasty for everyone.

But don't just focus on what you can enjoy on-site. The vendors at this food hall also offer plenty of great stuff to take home. Shop for locally grown produce from the farmstand, pick up a bouquet of colorful flowers from Mercantile Outpost, and score ground-to-order coffees from ThreeBirds Nest.

Easton Public Market is also home to a demonstration kitchen, where you can attend cooking classes.

Address: 325 Northampton Street, Easton, Pennsylvania

Official site: www.eastonpublicmarket.com

Learn about Environmental Risks at the Nurture Nature Center

The Nurture Nature Center is on a mission to educate locals and tourists alike about the environmental risks. The attraction was founded in 2007 when the Delaware River Basin was experiencing repetitive flooding, hence its major focus of flood risk education.

The center has four galleries to display local and regional artworks that touch on nature, global science, and social issues.

Visitors can also engage with science exhibits, including an augmented reality sandbox that lets you create rain and adjust sand with your hands, as well as a six-foot globe that depicts visualizations of global and planetary views from four projectors.

Address: 518 Northampton Street, Easton, Pennsylvania

Official site: www.nurturenaturecenter.org

See Cultural Redevelopment in Action at Simon Silk Mill

Once a major player in the thriving silk industry, R & H Silk Mill sat vacant for decades. Its 15 brick buildings were largely considered an eyesore in Easton, but in 2010, a local development group saw what it could become: a cultural redevelopment project with creative businesses and modern loft-style apartments.

Now that renovations are complete, Simon Silk Mill is home to more than 30 businesses. Tourists can come to the campus for a massage, hot shave, haircut, ice cream, Australian fare, yoga, gourmet foods for your pantry, and much more.

Wandering the 14-acre site, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2014, gives you an appreciation for the ways cities like Easton are reimagining old buildings as modern-day attractions, rather than tearing down the vacant structures.

Address: 671 North 13th Street, Easton, Pennsylvania

Official site: www.simonsilkmill.com

Get Lost in a Corn Maze at Raub's Farm Market

You can continue your journey through Easton's agricultural attractions at Raub's Farm Market, just a 10-minute drive from Klein Farms Dairy and Creamery.

Open year-round, the farm offers fresh eggs, locally grown produce, handmade soaps, salsas, and just about every flavor of jam you can imagine. Fall is the busiest time to visit. That's when the market bursts with fresh pies and decorative pumpkins and gourds for the home.

There's also a 14-acre corn maze that features four games and seven miles of walking paths. During the holiday season, the farm transitions its stock to wreaths, Christmas trees, and other festive treasures.

Address: 1459 Tatamy Road, Easton, Pennsylvania

Official site: www.raubsfarmmarket.com

Map of Things to Do in Easton, PA

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