Doolittle Station

The best finds on a roadtrip are the “Charles Kuralt” reveals on back roads – whimsical, creative, and well off the interstate highways. (If you are not familiar with Kuralt, he was the host of CBS’s On the Road series from 1967 to 1980, logging more than a million miles in his RVs, and apparently keeping a secret second family!)

Thanks to Harvest Hosts, we happened upon such a special experience in Dubois Pennsylvania, the Doolittle Station. (Harvest Hosts is an organization that connects members to vineyards, farms, breweries, museums, golf courses, and other venues to stay overnight for free in vans or RVs.)

It is hard to describe Doolittle Station succinctly. All of its elements clearly flow from the vision and interests of its eccentric founder, Dr. Jeffrey Rice, a local oral surgeon and collector supreme.

The site includes more than 20 train cars, a large collection of outside dinosaurs, an animatronic dinosaur museum, a craft brewery, an ice-cream stand, two restaurants, a pond and goat-petting area, a dinosaur and alligator-themed miniature golf course, and many other artifacts and collections. There is a replica of an 1880 B&O train depot. A train car from Teddy Roosevelt’s 1903 northern tour, the last running Barnum and Bailey circus train cars, and various other vintage rail engines and cars are distributed over the landscape. It is an outdoor museum, train and dinosaur wonderland, and fun place. Some of the train cars are available for events or overnight stays, others are used for a bar or exhibitions. Rice’s original vision for Doolittle Station was also philanthropic: profits from the enterprise would be used to support charities in Honduras.

Through COVID and since, it appears that Doolittle Station has had its ups and downs. A new restaurant on the site, the Angry Goat features ax throwing and looks promising. The owner has acquired more land for parking. Quirky, eclectic, and fun, Doolittle Station would have made Charles Kuralt chuckle.