Big Valley

The scenic 27-mile stretch along Route 655, known as Big Valley, cradles a thriving business community – from retail shops to the corporate headquarters of Kish Bank near Reedsville and MCS Bank near Milroy. Officially the Kishacoquillas Valley, this memorable place hums with energy, vitality, charming small towns, and stunning scenery that draws you in.

Home to Pennsylvania’s second-largest Amish community, one of the nation’s oldest, Big Valley (founded in 1791) now boasts 5,500 residents. These hardworking, industrious, family-oriented folks embrace a simpler life, free of most modern conveniences. A visit here steps you back in time: back roads reveal lambs frolicking in meadows, farmsteads with lines of sun-dried laundry, and hand-painted signs advertising garden-fresh bounty. Horse teams till the fields as buggies clip by – black for Renno, white for Nebraska, and sunny yellow for Byler (exclusively found in Big Valley), marking the valley’s rare diversity of traditions.

A cherished Big Valley rite, the flea markets at Sale Day unfold every Wednesday from March through November. Held on the site of the year-round Belleville Livestock Auction, Sale Day blends flea market booths brimming with Amish baked goods and crafts, roadside stands of just-picked produce, lively auctions from small critters to full herds, and scattered yard sales. It’s the ideal chance to gather treasures and feel the valley’s steady pulse.