View from "House Rock" on the Conestoga Trail System looking south towards the "Pinnacle Overlook"

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Welcome to the Website of the

Lancaster Hiking Club

and official site for the Conestoga Trail System in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

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Our Mission- "To provide a program of outdoor recreation and to maintain the Conestoga Trail System!"

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Section A- Old pike bridge closed for storm repairs. Repairs projected to be completed by the end of March.

Detour -South bound: Turn right on Old Pike. Go to intersection of Zartman Mill Rd. Turn left, go to Spring road, turn left, go to Rte 501, turn left, go to Bridge over Hammer creek, return to CTS.

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Section B - Pinetown and Hunsicker road Covered bridges closed due to Storm damage.

Follow Butter Road until you reach Hunsicker road and return to CTS route.

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South Duke Street Bridge has been reopened!

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Section D from Holtwood Arboreteum to Norman Wood Bridge Closed thru 2013!!

Due to expansion of the Holtwood Power plant PPl has closed this area and posted "NO TRESSPASSING "signs.

The trail has been rerouted. Follow Crystal Road to Rte 372, then go west to the Norman Wood Bridge.

We will repaint the blazes to direct you along the reroute as soon as the weather allows.

Ken Fillo, trail maintneance coordinator. Posted January 23, 2010.

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Conestoga Trail segment upgraded to paved bikeway,

now known as the Conestoga Greenway.

An urban greenway along the Conestoga River in Lancaster city first appeared on city planning maps in 1910.

Campaigns to establish scenic drives and public open were launched with little success in the 1940s, the 1960s and the 1990s.

A year ago, a plan for a 1.3-mile multi-use paved riverside trail across from Sunnyside peninsula seemed doomed when construction costs came in almost double what was anticipated.

Yet, last Sunday, after dinner, here were kids moving through the searing sunlight and into the leafy shade on bikes and scooters. One teen on a skateboard lugged a gallon jug of water in one hand.

At a more leisurely pace, parents pushed kids in strollers and wagons. Dogs, tongues out, led their masters amid a new world of smells.

Kate and Nathan Grieser, who live in the northern part of the city, had heard about the new trail in the city and Lancaster Township, and had come to walk their dog, Dewey.

"It's very beautiful," said Kate Grieser, 23, as she neared the South Duke Street terminus.

"It's a nice change from roads and sidewalks for us," added her husband. "We can come out here and see some green."

The Conestoga Greenway Trail is open for business.

Well, there's some finishing touches being made by contractors and a former dedication probably won't happen until this fall. The county Parks and Recreation Department has not yet officially taken ownership of the trail.

But word of the $804,000 trail, which extends from Conestoga Drive near Bridgeport to Lancaster County Central Park at the South Duke Street bridge, has spread like wildfire and there's been no holding back the humanity once work was essentially completed several weeks ago.

"Right now, it's usable," said Paul Weiss, the county's parks and recreation administrator. "We want to encourage use. It's been a long time in getting here. Hopefully, it will be worth the wait."

According to early users, it has been.

Children in neighborhoods such as Claremont and Franklin Terrace can leave their backyards and ride bikes to the county park pool without having to travel on busy streets and sidewalks.

"It's safe," Felipe Martinez, 71, of Franklin Street, said of the winding, paved walkway.

Each Sunday for the last several weeks, his daughter and son-in-law, Areliz and Jeffrey Cruiz, and grandson, Joaquin Cruiz, have come over from their home in Grandview Heights, had dinner and taken a leisurely stroll along the greenway.

"You can jog and walk dogs without worrying about cars," Areliz said.

By 6:30 p.m., all eight parking spots at the South Duke Street parking lot were filled, and cars were parking on the grass. Other parking areas are at the midway point in the trail off South Broad Street and near the eastern terminus of the trail along Conestoga Drive, where it intersects with Betz Road.

Policing will be provided by parks department rangers and Lancaster Township.

The trail is open from dawn to dusk for all nonmotorized uses. Dogs must be on a leash. There are no bathrooms or trash receptacles. Leave-no-trace rules apply.

The trail was built under the auspices of the nonprofit Lancaster County Conservancy, and partners include the city, Lancaster Township, state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, PennDOT, City Limits Realty, Lancaster City Housing Authority and Complete Health Care Resources, owners of Conestoga View.

General contractor B.R. Kreider & Son, Manheim, donated some of its own materials and labor to help the long-delayed project be built in a tight 90 days and on budget.

"One of the nice things was when we paved the first half, you'd see a lot of kids learning to ride bikes with their parents," said Roger Armstrong, Kreider's director of project management.

William Ebel Jr. has pushed for this project and other greenways along parts of the Conestoga River for decades, first as a board member of the late Earl Rebman's Conestoga Valley Association, and later with the Lancaster Inter-Municipal Committee and as a board member of the Lancaster County Conservancy.

"I'm real pleased," he said Monday. "Hopefully, in a year or so, there may be more interest in expanding it. Once you get a piece, it's much easier to do the next piece."

acrable@lnpnews.com

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