Great Bear
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Great Bear is an attraction in Pennsylvania, at a modelled elevation of 116 m. Big Lick Mountain stands 545 m to the north, 22 miles off. The nearest named place is Coal Cracker, a attraction less than a tenth of a mile away. Route 419 Scenic Byway passes 11 miles off. 46 named summits stand within 25 miles.
1998 Bolliger & Mabillard inverted roller coaster
The story
Great Bear is an inverted roller coaster located at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States. Designed and manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, with additional design from Werner Stengel, the roller coaster opened on May 23, 1998, in the Minetown section of the park. Great Bear was the first inverted looping coaster in Pennsylvania and cost $13 million, the largest project Hersheypark undertook at the time. The roller coaster reaches a maximum height of 90 feet (27 m), a maximum speed of 58 miles per hour (93 km/h) to 60 miles per hour (97 km/h), and has a total track length of 2,800 feet (850 m). When Great Bear opened, it was the sixth roller coaster in operation at Hersheypark, as well as the fourth steel roller coaster at the park. The layout of the roller coaster was designed to weave through several attractions, including a steel roller coaster named SooperDooperLooper; a log flume named Coal Cracker; and Spring Creek. The ride is named after the constellation Ursa Major, and its major elements represent the number of stars within the constellation. Upon opening to the public, the roller coaster received positive reviews from critics and guests.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q1294688, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What to expect
- Operated by
- Hersheypark
How to reach it
- 10.9 mi off the Route 419 Scenic Byway
Named places within 25 miles
- Coal Cracker: 0.0 mi
- Twin Turnpike - Speedway: 0.0 mi
- Twizzlers Twisted Gravity: 0.1 mi
- Hershey Triple Towers: 0.1 mi
- Southern Painted Turtle: 0.1 mi
- Chocolate Town Square: 0.2 mi
- Hershey Gardens: 0.8 mi
- Founder's Park: 1.0 mi
- Swatara Creek Park: 1.3 mi
- Palmdale Park: 1.5 mi
- Michael Horrocks 9/11 Memorial: 0.8 mi
- Abandoned Mount Gretna Prison Foundations: 8.5 mi
- Highspire War Memorial: 8.9 mi
- The "Governor's Troop": 9.5 mi
- 16th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry at Camp Hastings.: 9.7 mi
- The Hershey Story: 0.1 mi
- Education Center: 0.8 mi
- Pennsylvania State Police Historical, Educational, & Memorial Center: 1.3 mi
- Kinderhaus: 1.6 mi
- AACA Museum: 2.1 mi
- Round Top: 5.1 mi
- Conewago Hill: 9.4 mi
- Governor Dick Hill: 10.8 mi
- Mount Ararat: 10.8 mi
- Hulls Hill: 11.7 mi
- Milton S. Hershey: 0.2 mi
- The Boy with the Leaking Boot: 0.8 mi
- Girl Chasing Butterflies: 0.8 mi
- Winter: 0.8 mi
- Fall: 0.8 mi
- State Game Lands Number 246: 5.0 mi
- Bellaire Woods: 8.2 mi
- Shaw Family Nature Preserve: 8.4 mi
- State Game Lands Number 145: 8.9 mi
- State Game Lands Number 275: 9.1 mi
- Historic Hershey Rose Garden: 0.8 mi
- Bill Bowman Garden: 0.8 mi
- Northside Garden: 3.6 mi
- Palmyra Community Library: 4.6 mi
- Prayer Garden: 7.3 mi
- Original Carrousel Circle: 0.2 mi
- Quitte Creek Nature Park: 8.2 mi
- Hemlock Grove: 9.7 mi
- Main Campfire Circle: 13.9 mi
- Swing Circle: 14.0 mi
- Spring Creek Springs: 1.2 mi
- Penryth Spring: 8.8 mi
- Donegal Spring: 13.6 mi
- Spring Lake Spring: 14.6 mi
- Eichelberger Spring: 14.6 mi
- Chickies Rock: 17.6 mi
- Chinese Wall: 18.9 mi
- Round Head: 23.6 mi
- Mt. Gretna Lake & Beach: 9.7 mi
- Concrete Beach: 12.8 mi
- Rausch Gap: 15.0 mi
- Acrigg's Falls: 17.0 mi
Summits around it
The highest named summits within 25 miles of Great Bear. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big Lick Mountain | N 10° | 545 m | 21.9 mi |
| Short Mountain | N 349° | 500 m | 20.8 mi |
| Good Spring Mountain | NNE 18° | 500 m | 24.8 mi |
| Bear Mountain | N 5° | 496 m | 22.6 mi |
| Stony Mountain | N 352° | 491 m | 12.8 mi |
| Third Mountain | NW 318° | 488 m | 12.4 mi |
| Panther Head | NNE 28° | 473 m | 23.1 mi |
| Berry Mountain | NNW 332° | 435 m | 19.4 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:11 | 18:43 | 19:19 |
| June solstice | 05:38 | 20:00 | 20:41 |
| September equinox | 06:55 | 18:30 | 19:06 |
| December solstice | 07:27 | 16:01 | 16:44 |
Local time (America/New_York).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: Apr–Oct.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 31 | 33 | 42 | 53 | 63 | 73 | 77 | 75 | 68 | 56 | 45 | 36 |
| Precip in | 3.0 | 2.6 | 3.7 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 4.7 | 3.8 | 4.8 | 3.8 | 3.0 | 3.4 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Middletown Harrisburg Intl AP, 9 mi away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikipediaWikidataOpenStreetMap element node/12583439141
Day trips start here
- Wrightsville · 19 mi
- York · 23 mi
- Lancaster · 25 mi
- Lancaster County · 27 mi
Take the scenic way to Great Bear.
Byway plans around your taste, verified places, real weather and opening hours — then opens every leg in Google Maps with one tap.