Plans are being developed for recreational trails in East Hempfield, Mount Joy, Manor and along the Susquehanna River. And the River Ride, well-know to area bicyclists, is getting publicity and may eventually get signs.
In the news this week, the Lancaster County Solid Waste Authority is including a one-mile loop trail into plans being developed for land the authority plans to purchase off Farmingdale Road in East Hempfield Township. At the center of the loop would be a late 1700s-era farmhouse that is slated to become a nature center.
If the proposed Crossings at Conestoga Creek shopping center is built, the loop could be linked to another trail that would link the township neighborhoods to the shopping center and Long’s Park.
In Mount Joy Township, the Lancaster County Conservancy plans to use $661,000 from a state grant to purchase about 74 acres off Mount Gretna Road. The purchase will allow the conservancy to link the Conewago Rail Trail to land now owned by the Elizabethtown Park Authority. The grant was announced in December.
The same state grant announcement also included $200,000 for East Donegal Township for the development of a 2.5-mile extension of the Northwest River Trail.
That trail, when completed will stretch from West Hempfield Township to the Dauphin County line. A section of the trail has already been created in Marietta and the trail features prominently in plans for a river front park in Columbia.
In Manor Township, officials announced recently they have hired a consultant to move ahead with plans for a 5-mile recreational trail from Turkey Hill to the Conestoga River at Safe Harbor. The project would include a massive railroad trestle over the Conestoga River.
Manor’s moving forward on the project comes despite the refusal of another seven muncipalities to develop a recreational trail along the remaining 23 miles of the former Enola Low Grade freight line. That effort has been mired in controversy for about 18 years.
And, a week ago, regional tourism officials announced a study of the “River Ride,” a 62-mile circuit over public roads between Columbia south along the Susquehanna River to the Norman Wood bridge and north along the York County side of the river to Wrightsville and back across the bridge on Route 441 to Columbia.
The study could lead to a brochure, map and possibly signage designating the route. The study is part of the state effort to market the Lancaster-York Heritage Region.
The ride, which gains 480-feet in elevation, is already well known to area bicyclists. It has been a metric century ride for several years done in conjunction with the Turkey Hill Classic events in May.
