18th annual Land Conservancy of Adams County Road Rally

Road Rally 101

Here’s what we like to tell people about the Road Rally:

1. The Rally invites participants to travel Adams County’s back roads and explore its beautiful landscape at the peak of fall color, while learning about the county’s many hidden and not-so-hidden treasures.

2. A mix of friendly competition and a beautiful drive in the country, the Road Rally is emphatically not a race, and speed is definitely not a factor. No experience is required! Just a driver’s license, proof of insurance, and a navigator.

3. Driver-navigator teams follow entertaining and edifying route instructions while looking for clues to Adams County’s fascinating lesser-known sights. Teams are judged on their ability to follow these (easy-to-follow) instructions, find answers to questions about sights along the way, and arrive at the Finish Line with the most correct answers on their score sheet. It’s like a scavenger hunt combined with a self-guided driving tour!

4. Since we don’t want to cause too much traffic on Adams County’s beautiful back roads, we cap Rally participation at 60 teams. And because the Rally has become so popular over the years, folks have learned to register early to reserve their space. Keep in mind that since there’s so much advance preparation for the Rally, we can’t take registrations the day of the event. The key point: Register early!

5. The entry fee for Rally teams (driver plus navigator) is $50 for Land Conservancy members and $60 for non-members. You can ride for free by recruiting (or being!) a sponsor at the $300 level or above. You can bring passengers along for an additional $15 per person.

6. We are no sunny-day conservationists: The Rally is held rain or shine, with the first car heading off promptly at noon.

The 2016 edition: “Emergency Services of Adams County”

Every Rally has a theme, and this year’s theme celebrates Adams County’s first responders! Our Rally route will showcase the many ways Adams County’s emergency services personnel protect and serve county residents.

We can’t tell you more than that—the Rally route remains a closely guarded secret until the day of the event. But don’t worry about getting lost—route instructions are always impeccable, and you’ll also receive a sealed envelope containing the location of the Finish Line Party that you can open in case you get off-track.

What’s a Finish Line Party?

Every year we throw a party at the end of the Rally with food, entertainment, door prizes, and awards for top-performing teams. There are many ways to win prizes—from costumes to cars to bragging rights for last place. The coveted “fuzzy dice” award, sponsored by ACNB Bank, goes to the Grand Champion—that’s the team with the best score. Other prizes are awarded to the highest-performing nonprofit or club team, the team with the highest marks on their score sheet (we call them “Road Scholars”), and the team that has the most combined years of involvement with the Rally—that’s the “Double D President’s Cup,” named for sponsor and former Land Conservancy president Dick Mountfort and his wife Donna. And last, but certainly not least, there’s the “Dead Last, But Finished” award.

Serving as this year’s Honorary Rally Master will be John Eline, director of the county’s Department of Emergency Services. Eline will be on hand at the Finish Line Party to greet teams as they arrive at the Finish Line and help award trophies to the top teams.