Shickshinny as seen from a nearby overlook

Shickshinny is a small borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. It is located on the Susquehanna River at the mouth of Shickshinny Creek and is surrounded by mountains on all sides.

Lore has it that the name originally meant "five mountains" or "land of the five mountains" in the local Native American Indian language.

However, in "Indian Villages and Place Names in Pennsylvania," published in 1995 by Gateway Press Inc., Baltimore, (and originally published in 1928 in Harrisburg, PA) Dr. George P. Donehoo (p. 202) says the name probably meant "fine stream."

Get in

Shickshinny can be accessed via US Route 11 and Pennsylvania Route 239. It is 10 to 15 minutes north of Berwick and 15 to 20 minutes south of the Wilkes-Barre on Route 11.

Get around

By car or on foot. Many streets have sidewalks.

See

• Beautiful Views From Atop Shickshinny Mountain To see the views, walk up the firetower access road from Shickshinny. To get to the access road, follow these directions. From the intersection of Main Street and Union Street, take West Union Street (PA 239) west. Make a sharp right turn onto Rockview Avenue. Turn left onto Conyngham Street, right onto Nicely Street and left onto Search Avenue.

Do

The Susquehanna Warrior Trail, a walking trail in Shickshinny

• Heller's Orchards offers excellent apples and apple cider. A pretty six-mile drive on Route 239 South along the east bank of the Susquehanna River from Sickshinny through Mocanaqua to Wapwallopen takes you to Heller's.
• The Mocanaqua Loop Trail, owned by the Earth Conservancy, is a system of hiking trails right across the Susquehanna River from Shickshinny, in Mocanaqua. Take the Route 239 bridge across the river, take the first left, and follow the side street to parking for the trail. There is an 8-mile loop and several shorter loops.
• The Susquehanna Warrior Trail, a 9-mile flat packed-gravel walking trail, passes through Shickshinny. A 5K (3.1-mile) footrace is held on the trail annually in April.
• Boating on the nearby Susquehanna River

Go next

• Benton (Pennsylvania) (on State Route 239 north)
• Berwick (Pennsylvania) (on US Route 11 south)