MERCER COUNTY Scenic tour lets drivers choose pace

Animal and grain farms and horticulture are featured on the tour.
MERCER, Pa. -- A free, self-guided scenic driving tour showcasing agricultural and other rural sites in Mercer County will be from 1 to 6:30 p.m. Saturday and Sept. 14.
The Mercer County Country Tour features six stops in the Hermitage, Sharpsville and Jefferson Township areas, which the public is welcome to visit in any order during tour hours.
Tour maps with site descriptions and driving directions are available at many libraries, agricultural businesses and at the Mercer County Cooperative Extension Office on Route 19 north of Mercer.
Tour stops are:
UThe McCullough Grain Farm, 75 McCullough Road, Sharpsville -- a 350-acre farm that includes a grain elevator, digital truck scales and grain dryers.
UThe Highland Farm, 1811 Lake Road, Sharpsville -- a 230-acre dairy farm, which produces all of the feed for its animals and sells milk to Dean Foods. This farm, owned by the Ealy family and established in 1898, offers a scenic view of Shenango Reservoir.
UJefferson Township Municipal Building, 7407 Lamor Road, Mercer, where the township's volunteer fire department will be serving lunch or a light dinner as a fund-raiser.
UHermitage Historical Society in the Stewart House at Locust Grove, 5465 E. State St., Hermitage, which is dedicated to preserving the Stewart House and records and items reflecting the past of Hermitage and Hickory Township.
UCottage Gardens, formerly Braine and Foreman, 4945 E. State St., Hermitage -- a 24-acre family business with 13 greenhouses that produce annuals in the spring and chrysanthemums and poinsettias in the fall. The business also features a nursery that produces trees and shrubs and many popular perennials. Also, reindeer, fallow deer and several types of peafowl and pheasants are raised here.
UAlpaca Outback -- a 30-acre family farm behind Cottage Gardens. The farm breeds alpacas -- smaller cousins of llamas. Alpacas are shorn in the spring for cashmerelike fleece. Gift items and garments will be for sale.
The tour is organized by a committee made up of representatives of a variety of Mercer County agricultural businesses and organizations.
Stops at the middle or end of the list are often less crowded early in the day, and the first few stops on the list are less crowded later in the day, the extension office advises.