Touching down at Bradford Regional Airport in Bradford keeps you central, with surrounding cities and sights an easy drive away. Bradford is an old oil town in the Pennsylvania Wilds, tucked into the hills a few miles from the New York line. The downtown is a slice of early 1900s brick, the Allegheny National Forest surrounds it on three sides, and the two most famous local products, Zippo lighters and Case knives, still come from here.

Things to see around Bradford: - Tour the Zippo/Case Museum and see the flagpole-sized lighter out front - Learn about the 1870s oil boom at the Penn-Brad Oil Museum - Walk the skywalk at Kinzua Bridge State Park, built on the remains of a huge railroad viaduct - Hike or bike the trails around Marilla Reservoir - Drive the back roads of the Allegheny National Forest for fall color - Browse the historic Main Street and its old theater - Fish the Tunungwant Creek or the nearby Kinzua Reservoir

Olean, New York, is about 25 minutes north of Bradford, and the Seneca Nation's casino and Allegany State Park in Salamanca are about 45 minutes. Ellicottville and its ski slopes are about an hour, the Kinzua Dam and Allegheny Reservoir near Warren are also about an hour, and Buffalo is roughly two hours. Cook Forest and its old-growth pines are a little over an hour south. Locals still gather for the Zippo swap meet, and a fish sandwich on Friday is a regional habit. Bradford is best in October when the forest turns.